Alabama
South Carolina
Tide Roll with Two 8-0 Shutouts of South Carolina
4/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 19, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - No. 1 Alabama celebrated Senior Day on Saturday with a pair of 8-0 shutouts against South Carolina in front of 2,421 fans at the Alabama Softball Complex.
The Tide has now reeled off four-straight shutouts against SEC competition for the first time in school history. The Crimson Tide has also won 22-straight games overall, including a 19-game winning streak in league action.
Alabama improves to 43-3 on the season and 22-2 in SEC play, just one game back in the loss column of Florida (20-1) for the overall SEC Championship. South Carolina falls to 20-20 on the year and 7-12 in conference action.
"The pitching has been just awesome," Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said. "To have four-straight shutouts against SEC competition is just unheard of. Both Kelsi (Dunne) and Charlotte (Morgan) are pitching their best over the last couple of weeks."
Junior center fielder Brittany Rogers also reached a milestone on Saturday, swiping three bases in the doubleheader to tie Kelly Kretschman for the career stolen base record with 133.
The Crimson Tide go for the sweep on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. from the Alabama Softball Complex.
Game 1: Alabama 8, South Carolina 0 (6) Kelsi Dunne allowed just one hit in a complete-game 8-0 shutout of South Carolina in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader at the Alabama Softball Complex.
The game ended after six innings on the eight-run mercy rule as Charlotte Morgan blasted a two-run home run - her 13th of the season - to completed a five-run sixth inning. Whitney Larsen and Rogers had RBI singles while Kelley Montalvo ripped a RBI triple in front of Morgan's home run.
The only hit allowed by Dunne (18-3) was an infield double that glanced off the glove of a diving Montalvo at third base and went into the Tide dugout. Dunne fanned 10 while improving to 18-3 on the season. It was her eighth double-digit strikeout game of the season and her sixth in the last eight appearances.
Rogers and Morgan paced the offense with three hits each. Praytor, Montalvo and Morgan all had two RBI.
Jordan Praytor staked the Tide to an early lead with a two-run home run to right field in the bottom of the first inning. It was her fourth home run of the season along with RBIs 22 and 23.
Alabama extended the lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning on Montalvo's RBI single to left field.
Dunne got some help from her teammates on the first two outs of the sixth inning, including a diving snag by Whitney Larsen at second base. But Adele Voigt broke up Dunne's no-hit bid with two out.
Game 2: Alabama 8, South Carolina 0 (5) Charlotte Morgan stepped into the circle in game two of the doubleheader and continued to dominate the South Carolina lineup as the Crimson Tide posted another 8-0 win in just five innings this time.
Morgan improved to 13-0 on the season in the circle and has allowed just three earned runs over her last 40 innings of work. Against the Gamecocks on Saturday, the left-hander gave up just three hits and struck out three.
Praytor, Montalvo, Eubanks and Larsen all collected two hits as the Crimson Tide pounded out 10 hits for the second-straight game. Praytor had three RBI to give her five in the doubleheader and 26 for the season.
Alabama exploded for four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to evoke the run-rule with senior Chrissy Owens scoring the final run after pinch running for Morgan. It was her first career run scored in 135 appearances in an Alabama uniform, most all in the circle.
Morgan drove in the first two runs of the inning with a single up the middle. Kellie Eubanks then drove in the third run of the frame with a single to left field. Larsen ended things with a sharp single up the middle to score Owens.
Montalvo drove in the Tide's first run with a RBI single to right-center field. Praytor then ripped a bases-loaded single into right field in the second inning that plated three runs as Rogers showcased her speed and raced home all the way from first base on the single.
