Alabama Softball Takes Game One over Mississippi State with Walk-Off Wild Pitch

Thursday, April 14

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

5 p.m. CT

Alabama

34-6, 11-5

Mississippi State

26-15, 7-6

Mississippi State

Alabama

Alabama Softball Takes Game One over Mississippi State with Walk-Off Wild Pitch

4/14/2022 8:31:00 PM | Softball

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After five scoreless innings, The Crimson Tide scores two in the sixth and seventh to win

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama and Mississippi State opened their weekend softball series with a pitcher's duel Thursday night at Rhoads Stadium, as a walk-off wild pitch gave the Crimson Tide a 2-1 win over the Bulldogs.

Alabama (34-6, 11-5 SEC) and Mississippi State (26-15, 7-6 SEC) combined for just seven hits, five of which came in the sixth and seventh innings. Megan Bloodworth tied up the game in the bottom of the sixth on a solo home run, her sixth long ball of the year and second in conference play. Kat Grill also had a hit, giving her at least one in five of her last six games, while Ashley Prange extended her reached-base streak to 16 games and Bailey Dowling to 13 games. Montana Fouts (17-3) was lights-out in the circle, striking out 11 while holding the Bulldogs to just one run on three hits.

Each team tallied just one hit through 5.0 scoreless innings until Mississippi State threatened in the top of the sixth, loading the bases with one out. A fly ball to right allowed the runner at third to tag up on the sac fly RBI and put the Bulldogs on the board before a strikeout ended the half-inning, limiting the damage to just one run. Bloodworth wasted no time tying it up in the bottom half, leading off the frame with a solo home run to make it a 1-1 game. After a pitching change with two out, Prange drew a walk and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, but a strikeout ended the inning with the score still tied.

Fouts retired the side in order in the top of the seventh to set up the heart of the Tide's order for the potential walk-off. Dowling led off the inning with a single through the right side and Savannah Woodard entered to pinch run. Kaylee Tow then scorched a one-hopper through the right side to push Woodard to third and a wild pitch in the next at-bat allowed Woodard to slide into home as the game-winning run.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy

"It was a nail-biter. We know they are a really good team. They already have more wins in conference play then they did last year, and it's only been 13 games. They're doing a great job as a team and a coaching staff, so we knew it was going to be a tough game. Their starting pitcher was very good and thankfully Montana basically matched her. We had the key hits in the bottom of the seventh. Bailey Dowling had a great at-bat, poking a single through the right side. Kaylee Tow came up and hit another one hard to the right side, but the key to that was Savannah Woodard's baserunning. She's kind of an unsung hero on this team because she is the best baserunner that we have, and she never hesitated going around second base. After that, we had first and third with no outs, and we walked it off with a wild pitch. It was just a really good game to start the series."

Highlights

Alabama improves to 63-11 all-time vs. Mississippi State, including a 32-3 mark in Tuscaloosa
The win was the Tide's first walk-off win since Caroline Hardy's RBI single against Oklahoma at the 2019 Women's College World Series (June 2, 2019)
Montana Fouts now has 11 games this season with double-digit strikeouts and 39 for her career
Kat Grill has at least one hit in five of her last six games, going 7-for-16 (.438) over that stretch
Ashley Prange and Bailey Dowling extended their reached-base streaks to 16 and 13 games, respectively

Scoring Summary

T6 | With the bases loaded, Paige Cook lifted a fly ball to right for a sac fly RBI (0-1, 1 Out)
B6 | Megan Bloodworth led off the home half of the sixth with a solo home run (1-1, 0 Out)
B7 | Savannah Woodard scored from third on a wild pitch to end the game (2-1, 0 Out)

Up Next: Vs. Mississippi State (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Friday, April 15 – 6 p.m. CT
Saturday, April 16 – 4 p.m. CT – SEC Network

For the latest information on the team, follow @AlabamaSB on Twitter, BamaSB on Instagram and Alabama Softball on Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.