Pinch-Hit Home Run Sparks Five-Run Ninth Inning as Alabama Beats Southeastern, 6-3

Saturday, May 18

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

10:30 a.m. CT

Alabama

35-17

Southeastern

46-14

Alabama

SLU

Riley Valentine (17) celebrates after hitting a home run vs. Southeastern (May 18, 2024)

Pinch-Hit Home Run Sparks Five-Run Ninth Inning as Alabama Beats Southeastern, 6-3

5/18/2024 2:50:00 PM | Softball

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Riley Valentine’s pinch-hit home run, Kayla Beaver’s complete game leads the Crimson Tide to the Regional finals

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – With a spot in Sunday's NCAA Regional final on the line, Alabama and Southeastern battled to extra innings Saturday morning at Rhoads Stadium, with a pinch-hit home run from Riley Valentine sparking a five-run ninth inning that ultimately led the Crimson Tide to a 6-3 victory.

Alabama (35-17) got the first run on the board in the fourth inning as Marlie Giles scored on a fielding error. With the score still 1-0, Southeastern (46-14) tied it up in the bottom of the sixth on a double steal and neither team could break the tie in the seventh, sending it to extras. In the top of the ninth, Jenna Johnson drew a one-out walk and Valentine stepped in to pinch hit, blasting the fourth pitch of her at-bat off the scoreboard to give the Crimson Tide a 3-1 lead. Alabama added some insurance on a Kristen White RBI single and some baserunning chaos on a Kenleigh Cahalan single to tack on two more, ultimately leading 6-1 heading to the bottom of the ninth. The Lady Lions scored two in their half of the inning, but Alabama held on for the 6-3 win.

Seven different players had a hit in the game, including a 2-for-4 day from Bailey Dowling for her second multi-hit game of the weekend. Kayla Beaver (17-8) pitched her 14th complete game of the season, striking out 10 batters.

With the win, the Tide advances to Sunday's NCAA Regional final game at 1 p.m. CT. Alabama will play the winner of tonight's game five elimination game. TV designations have yet to be determined.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy

"We talk about being gritty and not pretty, bend but don't break, and that was an example of that today. Obviously the sixth inning didn't go the way we wanted it to, but Kayla Beaver continued to hold them down and then Riley Valentine came up with her biggest hit so far at Alabama and the floodgates kind of opened after that. It was a great win against a great Southeastern team. I think everybody can see that they can play with anybody."

Highlights

Alabama is now 70-12 all-time in NCAA Regional play, with this year marking its 17th 2-0 start since the current postseason format was adopted in 2005
The game was the Tide's sixth extra-inning game of the year, now holding a 2-4 record in those contests
Riley Valentine's home run was Alabama's second pinch-hit home run of the season (Kendal Clark at UAB Feb. 25, 2024) and its first in postseason play since Marlie Giles vs. Tennessee at the 2023 Women's College World Series (June 1, 2023)
Kayla Beaver threw her 14th complete game of the season and her third with double-digit strikeouts
Bailey Dowling now has two multi-hit games this weekend, giving her eight this season
Marlie Giles made her first start since suffering an injury on March 30 at Kentucky

RILEY. VALENTINE.@rvalentine_27

??ESPN+ | https://t.co/ggAbhv6urK #Team28 #RollTide pic.twitter.com/9dzx4ZP3Ma
— Alabama Softball (@AlabamaSB) May 18, 2024

Scoring Summary

T4 | Marlie Giles scored from first on a fielding error (1-0, 2 Out)
B6 | Southeastern tied the game on a double steal (1-1, 2 Out)
T9 | Riley Valentine hit a pinch-hit two run home run (3-1, 1 Out)
T9 | Kristen White drove in Bailey Dowling with an RBI single to center (4-1, 2 Out)
T9 | Two runs scored on an infield single from Kenleigh Cahalan (6-1, 2 Out)
B9 | Maria Detellier tagged up and scored on a sac fly RBI (6-2, 1 Out)
B9 | Bailey Krolczyk drove in a run with an RBI single (6-3, 2 Out)

Up Next: NCAA Regionals (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Sunday, May 19 vs. TBD – 1 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.