Series Sweep! Alabama Defeats Ole Miss, 5-1, Sunday to Complete the Weekend Sweep

Sunday, April 7

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

1:30 p.m. CT

Alabama

29-8, 6-6

Ole Miss

21-18, 3-12

Ole Miss

Alabama

Series Sweep! Alabama Defeats Ole Miss, 5-1, Sunday to Complete the Weekend Sweep

4/7/2024 5:27:00 PM | Softball

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The Crimson Tide moves to an even .500 in SEC play

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After clinching the weekend series yesterday, Alabama secured the sweep with a 5-1 win over Ole Miss Sunday afternoon at Rhoads Stadium.

The win gives Alabama (29-8, 6-6 SEC) its first series sweep at home since 2022 and its 14th sweep all-time in a three-game series vs. Ole Miss (21-18, 3-12 SEC), including seven at home.

With two on and one out in the bottom of the second, the Crimson Tide took the first lead over the Rebels on a towering three-run home run from Kendal Clark that bounced off the scoreboard. Kali Heivilin made it a 4-0 lead with an RBI single in the third and the score remained the same until Ole Miss erased the shutout with a two-out RBI double in the top of the sixth. Emma Broadfoot stretched the lead back to four with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth before reliever Alea Johnson and the Alabama defense closed it out in the top of the seventh.

Seven different players in the Tide lineup earned a hit, including a double from Kenleigh Cahalan to extend her current hitting streak to five games. Broadfoot's home run was her third of the season and Clark's her second, with Sunday marking the 10th multi-homer game of the season for Alabama, including four games in SEC play. Kayla Beaver (13-3) threw 4.2 shutout innings in the start to earn her second win of the weekend while Alea Johnson backed her up 2.1 relief innings for her third save of the season.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy

"When you can hold a team to two runs across three games, it says a lot about your pitching. Kudos to Lance McMahon and all our pitchers and catchers. Riley Valentine did a great job this weekend, especially since it's the first time she's caught all three games in a series. Today, Kendal Clark got up and after that pitch for the home run. She told everyone in the dugout she was going for that first pitch and she almost cleared the scoreboard. The defense and the pitchers did the rest. I don't care what team you're playing against, it's a feat to get three wins in the SEC over a weekend."

Highlights

Alabama is now 68-7 all-time vs. Ole Miss, including a 36-2 mark in Tuscaloosa
The three-game sweep was the Tide's 14th all-time over the Rebels, with seven coming at home
The SEC series sweep was Alabama's first at home since April 14-16, 2022 vs. Mississippi State
The game was the Tide's 10th multi-home run game of the season, four of which have come in SEC play
The four sacrifice bunts are the most in a game for Alabama since 2017
Kayla Beaver earned her second win of the weekend, throwing 11.2 shutout innings over two appearances vs. the Rebels with 16 strikeouts
Kendal Clark was 3-for-7 on the weekend with a team-leading four RBIs
Bailey Dowling led the team with four hits over the series, batting 4-for-8 with two runs scored
Kenleigh Cahalan hit her second double of the weekend on Sunday, pushing her team-leading total to seven this season
Cahalan's double extended her current hitting streak to five games
Kendal Clark owns an eight-game reached base streak, with Cahalan and Jenna Johnosn close behind at seven

Scoring Summary

B2 | Kendal Clark bounced a three-run home run off the scoreboard (3-0, 1 Out)
B3 | Kali Heivilin dropped an RBI single into left center (4-0, 1 Out)
T6 | Ole Miss erased the shutout with an RBI double (4-1, 2 Out)
B6 | Emma Broadfoot led off the half-inning with a solo home run to left (5-1, 0 Out)

Up Next: at Samford (Birmingham, Ala.)

Tuesday, April 9 - 5 p.m. CT

For the latest information on the team, follow @AlabamaSB on X/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.