Alabama
Hawai'i
Walk Off Heroics Propels No. 1 Softball to Two Wins
2/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 21, 2009
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - The No. 1 ranked Alabama softball team concluded Cathedral Classic play with two wins by way of walk offs. In game one senior Kelley Montalvo handed the Crimson Tide a 4-3 win over No. 8 Oklahoma while in game two freshman Amanda Locke drove in the game-winner in extra innings to give UA a 1-0 victory over Hawaii. With the pair of victories the Crimson Tide improves to 12-1 on the season.
Montalvo led Alabama at the plate with a walk off double that scored two runs and a home run in the win against Oklahoma. Montalvo nearly continued the dramatics in game two but was robbed of a walk off home run against Hawaii. The senior batted .400 on the day with three RBI and two runs scored. Sophomore Kelsi Dunne earned two wins, defeating Oklahoma behind a complete game and then coming in relief to defeat Hawaii.
Game 1
With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning and two runners in scoring position senior Kelley Montalvo came through on a double to left-centerfield to hand Alabama a dramatic 4-3 victory over No. 8 Oklahoma (11-2) Saturday night at Wrigley Field.
Senior Kellie Eubanks drew a leadoff walk and Brittany Rogers smacked a base hit to left center to put runners on second and third with one out. Montalvo then drilled a 1-2 pitch into the gap to give Alabama the victory.
Montalvo also went deep earlier in the game as did Whitney Larsen to round out the scoring for Alabama. Larsen started the scoring with a solo shot in the second and Montalvo followed suit in the third to give UA a 2-0 lead.
A three run shot by Lindsey Vandever put Oklahoma on top in the fourth. The runs were the first earned runs given up by Kelsi Dunne on the season. She put a streak of 34.1 innings without allowing an earned run. Dunne went the distance and allowed three hits and struck out 11.
Alabama banged out seven hits to only three by Oklahoma. Montalvo and Larsen led the Tide offensively with two hits apiece.
Game 2
After posting a thrilling victory just 20 minutes prior to the start of the final contest of The Classic, Alabama continued its flare for the dramatics. With runs at a premium the Crimson Tide were able to beat the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (3-11) 1-0 in extra innings Saturday night. With the victory Alabama improves to 12-1 on the season.
With the international extra inning rules in play the Crimson Tide were able to close out the ball game in the bottom of the eighth. Senior Kelley Montalvo started the inning on second base and was able to take third on a wild pitch. Freshman Amanda Locke then drilled a ground ball to short that was too hot to handle to enable Montalvo to score for the second thrilling win on the day.
Junior Charlotte Morgan held Hawaii at bay by striking out a career-high 10 batters over seven innings. Morgan scattered six hits and only walked two in the no decision. Kelsi Dunne earned her second win on the day by tossing an inning of no hit relief to improve to 6-0 on the year.
Alabama will continue tournament play when it heads to the Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Georgia. The Crimson Tide will play a total of five games in another loaded field with the first contest slated for Friday, Feb. 27 against Southern Illinois at 1:30 p.m. ET.
