Alabama
Samford
No. 4 Softball Runs Past Samford 11-1
4/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 8, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 4 ranked Alabama softball team ran past instate foe Samford by the score of 11-1 Wednesday night at the Alabama Softball Complex. Freshman Amada Locke earned the win in the circle and went deep to help lead the Tide to the five inning victory. After the day Alabama improves to 32-6 overall while Samford moves to 11-20 on the year.
"In these games you like to see your players take advantage of their opportunities," head coach Patrick Murphy said. "We definitely had a few do that tonight. After they scored we were able to put the ball in play and make some things happen."
Alabama allowed a first inning run but quickly took the lead with two in the bottom of the first. The Crimson Tide then tallied five in the third and tacked on four more in the fourth to earn the win.
Freshman Cassandra Reilly-Boccia continued her hot play with a 2-for-2 effort at the plate with four RBI. Locke batted 1-for-1 with a two-run homer and tossed five complete, allowing one run on four hits while striking out four. On top of Locke and Reilly-Boccia at the plate, Cat Dozier was 2-for-3 with three RBI.
In the top of the first inning Samford's Aaren Fisher knocked her fifth home run of the year over the left-center wall to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 early lead, but the Tide answered in the bottom half of the inning with two runs of their own.
Kelley Montavlo led off with a single down the left field line followed by a bunt from Jennifer Fenton that put runners on first and second. Reilly-Boccia then doubled over the head of Samford right fielder Rachael Reeves, scoring Montalvo and Fenton to give Alabama the 2-1 advantage.
The bottom of the third inning saw Alabama add five more runs and extend their lead to put the game out of reach.
Fenton drew a walk to lead off, stole second and then moved to third on a single through the left side of the infield by Brittany Rogers. Reilly-Boccia then singled through the right side to plate Fenton and Rogers. Reilly-Boccia scored on a fielder's choice by Whitney Larsen, who later stole second and allowed Locke to steal home. Dozier then singled down the left-field line to score Larsen and put Alabama on top 7-1.
With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Reilly-Boccia was hit by a pitch then brought home by Amanda Locke's sixth home run of the year. The Tide added two more in the fourth when Dozier doubled to left-center to score pinch runner Lisa Elizondo and Larsen, giving Alabama its final 11-1 lead.
Alabama hits the road this weekend to take on the Gamecocks in Columbia, S.C. with a doubleheader on Friday and the series finale on Saturday. Friday's action will begin at 5:00 p.m. ET.
