Alabama
Georgia
Alabama Softball Falls in Saturday Series Opener to Georgia, 5-3
4/2/2022 7:31:00 PM | Softball
The Crimson Tide will look to even the series tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT on the SEC Network
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama softball brought the potential tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh but ultimately could not complete the comeback, falling to Georgia, 5-3, in Saturday's series opener at Rhoads Stadium.
Alabama (29-5, 6-4 SEC) and Georgia (31-5, 5-2 SEC) were scoreless until the Bulldogs strung together a trio of hits to take a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Ally Shipman put the Crimson Tide on the board in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run and Alabama threatened again in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with two outs but a called strikeout got Georgia out of the jam and kept it a 3-1 game.
Sydney Kuma tacked on two more for the Bulldogs with a two-run home run in the sixth to make it 5-1 but Megan Bloodworth got the two runs back with a two-run double in the bottom half of the inning. With the score still 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Shipman hit a two-out single to bring the tying run to the plate but a groundout ended the game.
Shipman was 2-for-4, giving her a team-leading 12 multi-hit games this season. The solo shot also gave her the team lead in that category with six, along with 36 RBIs. Ashley Prange went 1-for-3 to extend her hitting streak to a career-best 10 games, beating her previous best of nine set as a freshman at Ohio State in 2019. Montana Fouts (15-2) took the loss in the circle but struck out 10 batters to give her nine games this season with double-digit Ks.
From Head Coach Patrick Murphy
"We had the tying run at the plate in the seventh inning but couldn't get a key hit to score her and overall that was proved to be the difference in this ball game: key hits. Georgia got them and we didn't. The formula to win high-level softball game is a good start from the pitcher, great team defense and the key hits. Give credit to Georgia, they played a good game. Their pitcher pitched a good game and they played pretty good defense too. The biggest thing was they got the key hit, the two-run home run, which was the killer for us."
Highlights
- The loss snaps an eight-game winning streak from Alabama in the all-time series against Georgia, with the Tide now 49-21 all-time vs. the Bulldogs, including a 25-8 mark in Tuscaloosa
- Alabama is 6-2 this season when the opponent scores first
- Ashley Prange extended her hitting streak to a career-best 10 games, beating her previous best of nine set as a freshman at Ohio State in 2019
- Shipman's solo home run gives her the team lead in HRs (6) and RBIs (36)
- Montana Fouts now has nine games this season with double-digit strikeouts and 37 for her career
Scoring Summary
- T4 | Lacey Fincher hit an RBI double to center field (0-1, 1 Out)
- T4 | Jayda Kearney dropped an RBI single into shallow let (0-2, 1 Out)
- T4 | Aniyah Black poked a single through the right side to drive in another run (0-3, 2 Out)
- B4 | Ally Shipman blasted a solo homer to left center (1-3, 1 Out)
- T6 | Sydney Kuma hit a two-run home run (1-5, 2 Out)
- B6 | Megan Bloodworth tacked on two with a double to center field (3-5, 2 Out)
Up Next: vs. #15/18 Georgia (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
- Sunday, April 3 – 3 p.m. CT – SEC Network
- Monday, April 4 – 6 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.
