Alabama Softball Advances to Regional Final with Saturday Win over Chattanooga

Saturday, May 21

8:55 p.m. CT

Alabama

43-12

Chattanooga

30-27

Alabama

Chattanooga

Alabama Softball Advances to Regional Final with Saturday Win over Chattanooga

5/22/2022 12:26:00 AM | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

The Crimson Tide and Cardinal rematch Sunday at 10 a.m. CT

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Needing a win to stay alive in Saturday's nightcap, Alabama softball found its offensive spark en route to a 6-2 win over Chattanooga to secure a spot in Sunday's regional final against Stanford.

The six runs were Alabama's (43-12) highest scoring output since April 19, with the win over Chattanooga (30-27) propelling the Crimson Tide to its 19th Regional final in program history. Jenna Johnson set the tone from the leadoff position with a 2-for-3 day with two RBIs, including a solo home run in the first at-bat of the game. Ally Shipman also had a two-hit day, her 19th multi-hit game of the season, and Jenna Lord posted her fourth multi-RBI day with a two-run pinch hit single. In the circle, Jaala Torrence (7-2) got the win with 6.1 innings pitched.

Johnson wasted no time leading off the game, sending the fourth pitch of her at-bat over the left field fence as the solo home run put Alabama ahead 1-0. In the top of the third with one out and Savannah Woodard at third base, Johnson laid down a squeeze bunt as everyone was safe and the Tide now led 2-0. With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the fourth, Woodard lifted a fly ball to right field and Shipman tagged up and scored on the sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 before the Mocs scratched a run across in the bottom half of the inning on a wild pitch.

With two in scoring position and two out in the top of the sixth, Lord stepped in to pinch hit and delivered with a two-run single to make it 5-1 and then Shipman added some insurance with an RBI single in the seventh to make it 6-1. Chattanooga didn't go down quietly in the last half-inning, smacking a solo home run to make it 6-2 before Montana Fouts entered to secure the final two outs and shut the door on the four-run win.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy

"First of all, it was a great run for Chattanooga. Coach Frank Reed is one of the gentlemen of softball, so congrats to them on their season and we knew it would be a tough game. I was really pleased with Jaala's effort, pitching almost seven innings. Then obviously the other star was Jenna [Johnson] in the leadoff spot. She was awesome tonight."

Highlights

Alabama improves to 64-10 all-time in NCAA regional play and will advance to its 19th NCAA Regional Final in program history
The Tide is 32-4 this season when scoring first and 18-3 when scoring in the first inning
Jenna Johnson's solo home run was Alabama's first homer to lead off a game since Kaylee Tow at Texas A&M on March 24, 2019
The multi-hit game was Ally Shipman's 19th, which leads the team, and the 10th for Johnson
Saturday was the first postseason win of Jaala Torrence's career

Scoring Summary

T1 | Jenna Johnson hit a solo home run to lead off the game (1-0, 0 Out)
T3 | Johnson laid down a squeeze bunt and Savannah Woodard slid in safely from third (2-0, 1 Out)
T4 | A fly ball with the bases loaded allowed Ally Shipman to tag up and score from third on the sac fly RBI (3-0, 1 Out)
B4 | A wild pitch brought in a runner from third (3-1, 2 Out)
T6 | Jenna Lord drove in two with a pinch-hit single (5-1, 2 Out)
T7 | Ally Shipman added some insurance with an RBI single (6-1, 1 Out)

Up Next: NCAA Regionals (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Sunday, May 22 vs. Stanford – 10 a.m. CT

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