Alabama Softball Shuts Out Chattanooga to Open Play at NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional

Friday, May 20

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

3 p.m. CT

Alabama

42-11

Chattanooga

29-26

Chattanooga

Alabama

Alabama Softball Shuts Out Chattanooga to Open Play at NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional

5/20/2022 6:11:00 PM | Softball

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The Crimson Tide posts its fourth-straight shutout in NCAA Regional play

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama softball opened the Tuscaloosa Regional with a 3-0 shutout over Chattanooga Friday afternoon at Rhoads Stadium, extending its regional win streak to 44-straight games.

Alabama (42-11) and Chattanooga (29-26) were scoreless until a Bailey Dowling solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, the Crimson Tide's first hit of the day. A sac fly from Megan Bloodworth later in the inning added another and Jenna Lord drove in the third and final run of the day with a fifth-inning RBI single. In the circle, Alex Salter and Montana Fouts (23-6) combined for the shutout, striking out eight batters with just one of the Mocs' seven hits going for extra bases.

The two teams were scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Dowling made the most of the Tide's first hit of the day, blasting a leadoff solo home run to left field. Later with the bases loaded and nobody out, a deep fly ball to center from Bloodworth allowed Ally Shipman to tag up at third and score on the sac fly RBI and make it 2-0. Alabama had the bases loaded later in the inning with two out, but a strikeout ended the frame and limited the damage to two runs.

With runners at first and third and one out in the fifth, Lord dropped an RBI single into left field to drive in M'Kay Gidley and make it 3-0. With the lead the same heading to the top of the seventh, the Mocs put two on base with one out to bring the potential tying run to the plate but a strikeout and popup ended the rally and the game as the Tide held on for the 3-0 win.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy

"It started with [Bailey] Dowling then [Megan] Bloodworth had the sac fly on a tough pitch. Then Jenna Lord slammed one for the third run. Obviously, we were hoping to not have to use Montana [Fouts] but it was 0-0 and we didn't have any hits and they had four and were at first and second, so I wasn't going to take that chance. It was a good win to start the Regional and we're just hoping to get better with every game."

Highlights

Alabama improves to 63-9 all-time in NCAA regional play, including an active win streak of 44 games stretching back to 2007
The Tide has thrown four-straight shutouts in regional play, blanking all three games in last season's round before today's opening game
Alabama improves to 31-4 this season when scoring first and 24-7 when hitting at least one home run
Bailey Dowling's home run pushes her team-leading season total to 10
Ally Shipman went 2-for-3 for her team-leading 18th multi-hit game of the season

Scoring Summary

B4 | Bailey Dowling led off the half-inning with a solo home run (1-0, 0 Out)
B4 | With the bases loaded, a sac fly RBI from Megan Bloodworth drove in a run (2-0, 0 Out)
B5 | Jenna Lord dropped an RBI single into left field, driving in M'Kay Gidley from third (3-0, 1 Out)

Up Next: NCAA Regionals (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Saturday, May 21 vs. Stanford/Chattanooga – 2 p.m. CT

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