Alabama
Rutgers
Alabama Softball Sweeps Saturday Opponents in Orlando
2/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
ORLANDO, Fla. - Fifth-ranked Alabama softball scored a pair of wins Saturday in Orlando, shutting out Rutgers, 6-0, in the opener before scoring a comeback walk-off victory in the finale against No. 19 James Madison, 2-1.
Alabama (3-1) put together a very strong effort against Rutgers (0-4) with a six-run shutout before gutting out a gritty walk-off win over James Madison (2-1). Between the two games, Demi Turner and Leona Lafaele led the offense with three hits while Andrea Hawkins and Carrigan Fain each tallied two. Six different Tide players drove in runs Saturday, with two of the seven coming off the bat of Marisa Runyon. Alabama's pitching staff combined to allow just one run over 14.0 innings pitched with 14 strikeouts.
ALABAMA 6, RUTGERS 0
Alabama excelled in all phases of the game over Rutgers, as great pitching, timely hitting and great team speed helped secure the shutout. Lafaele led the offense with a 3-3 performance, including a pair of doubles, while Turner, Fain and Hawkins each finished with two hits. Alabama's speed was on display as well, going 5-5 in stolen bases with Turner and Hawkins swiping a pair and Kallie Case adding the fifth. Freshman Madi Moore (2-0) threw a complete-game shutout for her second win of the season, allowing just five hits with four strikeouts.
Scarlet Knight leadoff hitter Stephanie Huang tallied three of the team's five hits while starting pitcher Aubrie Levine (0-1) exited after just 3.0 innings, taking the loss with four runs, three earned, on six hits.
With runners at first and second in the top of the first, Lafaele smacked a hard double off the top of the wall in left field, scoring Haylie McCleney from second to put the Tide up 1-0 early. In the top of the third, Demi Turner led off the inning with a single and then moved to third after a stolen base and wild pitch. Runyon drove her in with an RBI groundout to the second baseman to make it 2-0. With two out in the inning, Lafaele knocked in her second double of the day and was driven in by Fain with a slow roller through the left side to make it 3-0.
Hawkins battled through a long at-bat to lead off the top of the fourth and eventually broke through with a double up the middle, which ended Levine's outing in the circle for Rutgers as Shayla Sweeney entered to pitch. Later in the inning with two in scoring position and one out, an RBI groundout by Turner stretched the lead to 4-0.
Back-to-back singles by Lafaele and Fain in the top of the fifth set up Hawkins for an RBI single through the right side, scoring Lafaele to make it 5-0. With runners at the corners and one out in the top of the sixth, Runyon drove in her second run of the day with another RBI groundout to score Turner and make it 6-0. Rutgers looked to erase the shutout in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out single into right but the runner was caught in a rundown in between third and home for the final out as it remained a 6-0 lead heading to the seventh inning.
The lead remained the same heading into the final half-inning but the Scarlet Knights were retired in order as the Tide was able to preserve the shutout for its second win of the young season.
ALABAMA 2, JAMES MADISON 1
Alabama persevered in a pitcher's duel against James Madison in Saturday's second game, going hitless through the first five innings before taking advantage with clutch hits in the sixth and seventh innings to win in walk-off fashion, 2-1.
Sydney Littlejohn and Alexis Osorio (1-0) combined for a strong pitching performance, with Osorio ultimately earning the win with one hit and five strikeouts over 3.0 innings in relief. Turner broke up Jailyn Ford's (2-1) no-hit bid in the sixth before Marisa Runyon and Peyton Grantham gave the Tide the win with a pair of hits in the seventh. The hits for Runyon and Grantham were their first of the season.
After two hitless innings for each team, James Madison shortstop Niki Prince led off the top of the third with an infield single and was later driven home on an RBI single by Erica Field. Another single put runners at the corners but a line drive to Case in left field left them stranded and limited the damage to one run.
After 4.0 strong innings out of Littlejohn, Alabama made a change in the circle as Alexis Osorio entered in relief. Osorio prevented the Dukes from adding to its lead before the Tide eventually capitalized on its opportunities in the bottom of the sixth. Turner tallied the Tide's first hit of the day in the half-inning with a two-out single up the middle. After a lengthy at-bat, Reagan Dykes hopped a ball towards the JMU shortstop that went between her legs into the outfield and the ensuing throw from the left fielder to hold Dykes at first went into foul territory, allowing Turner to score and tie the game at 1-1.
Alabama couldn't take the lead in the sixth so the teams headed to the seventh tied at 1-1. Osorio and the defense retired the Dukes in order in the top half and Runyon got things started for the Tide in the bottom half with a leadoff triple to the wall in right-center. With Sydney Booker pinch-running at third, Grantham squared up with a hard-hit RBI single into the left-field gap to give Alabama the 2-1 walk-off victory.
Alabama concludes its weekend in Orlando facing Liberty on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 9 a.m. CT.
