Alabama Defeats Ohio State, Falls to No. 4 UCLA Saturday in Clearwater

Saturday, February 15

Clearwater, Fla.

9 a.m. CT

Alabama

5-3

Ohio State

5-2

Ohio State

Alabama

Marlie Giles (34) celebrates following a home run vs. Michigan State (Feb. 7, 2025)

Alabama Defeats Ohio State, Falls to No. 4 UCLA Saturday in Clearwater

2/15/2025 6:20:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score vs. Ohio State (PDF)Box Score vs. UCLA (PDF)

The Crimson Tide concludes its weekend facing No. 9 Oklahoma State Sunday at 4 p.m. CT on ESPN

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Alabama softball split its two games Saturday at the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational, defeating Ohio State, 9-5, before a late rally pushed No. 4 UCLA ahead of the Crimson Tide, 6-3.

Alabama (5-4) hit a pair of home runs as part of a 9-5 win over Ohio State (5-2), with the Tide scoring in five of the six innings it came to the plate. Audrey Vandagriff was 4-for-4 in stolen bases, making her the first player in UA history to steal 4+ bases twice in the same season. She is also just the fourth Tide player to do so twice in a career, joining Kayla Braud, Jennifer Fenton and Elissa Brown. Marlie Giles had a career-best four RBIs on a three-run home run and an RBI double as part of a 3-for-4 day at the plate.

Alabama jumped ahead early over fourth-ranked UCLA (9-0), with solo home runs from Vandagriff and Kali Heivilin along with an RBI double from Vandagriff putting the Tide ahead 3-0 through 2.0 innings. With the score the same in the top of the sixth, the Bruins scored six unearned runs on a pair of RBI singles, a bases-loaded walk and a three-run double to move ahead, 6-3. The Tide got a runner on in the sixth but went down in order in the seventh as UCLA took home the three-run win.

HIGHLIGHTS

Alabama has had at least one baserunner reach safely in 48 of its 59 innings on offense so far this season (82 percent)
With four stolen bases vs. Ohio State, Audrey Vandagriff becomes the first Tide player to steal four or more bases twice in a season and is just the fourth player to do so twice in her career, accomplishing that feat in her eighth career game
Marlie Giles had a career-high four RBIs vs. the Buckeyes and tied her career-best mark with three hits
Vandagriff had two hits in each game Saturday, giving her a team-leading five multi-hit games this season
Kali Heivilin hit a home run in each game, extending her current hitting streak to six games

SCORING SUMMARY VS. OHIO STATE

T1 | Hadley Parisien led off the game with a solo home run (0-1, 0 Out)
B1 | Audrey Vandagriff stole third and came home on an errant throw (1-1, 1 Out)
B2 | Vandagriff drove in Salen Hawkins with an RBI single (2-1, 2 Out)
B3 | Kali Heivilin hit a solo home run (3-1, 2 Out)
B4 | Alexis Pupillo drove in a run with an RBI groundout (4-1, 1 Out)
B4 | Marlie Giles cleared the bases with a three-run homer (7-1, 2 Out)
T6 | Ohio State hit an RBI double down the left field line (7-2, 1 Out)
T6 | An errant throw allowed a Buckeye run to score (7-3, 1 Out)
B6 | Vandagriff scored on a Pupillo sac fly RBI (8-3, 0 Out)
B6 | Giles roped an RBI double into left field (9-3, 1 Out)
T7 | A bases-loaded walk plated an OSU run (9-4, 1 Out)
T7 | A bases-loaded hit by pitch moved everyone up 60 feet (9-5, 1 Out)

SCORING SUMMARY VS. UCLA

B1 | Audrey Vandagriff led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run (1-0, 0 Out)
B2 | Kali Heivilin hit a one-out solo home run (2-0, 1 Out)
B2 | Vandagriff bounced an RBI double off the center field wall (3-0, 2 Out)
T6 | UCLA erased the shutout with an RBI single (3-1, 0 Out)
T6 | An RBI single through the left side drove in a run (3-2, 0 Out)
T6 | A bases-loaded walk tied the game (3-3, 2 Out)
T6 | A double cleared the bases for the Bruins, plating three runs (3-6, 2 Out)