Alabama Softball Defeats Louisiana, 5-1, to Complete Weekend Sweep
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Fifth-ranked Alabama used its speed on the basepaths and some heads-up defense to defeat No. 13 Louisiana, 5-1, Sunday at Rhoads Stadium to complete the weekend sweep of the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Despite being out-hit 6-4, Alabama (36-7) manufactured its runs with speed on the basepaths and capitalized on Louisiana (35-9) errors, both on offense and defense. The Ragin’ Cajuns ran into three outs trying to stretch out an extra base, including the final outs in the third and fourth innings.
An infield RBI single from Elissa Brown in the second inning turned into two runs for the Crimson Tide after a throwing error allowed the trailing runner to head home as well and make it 2-0. Louisiana cut into the deficit with a sacrifice fly in the top of the third, but a quick throw from Bailey Hemphill behind the plate to Maddie Morgan covering third on the same play secured the final out of the inning as the baserunner at second tried to move up 60 feet on the throw home.
With one on and two out in the bottom of the third, Savannah Woodard bounced one off the wall in center field and hustled all the way around the bases for an inside-the-park home run to make it 4-1. It was the eighth inside-the-park home run in program history and the first since Feb. 23, 2019. A sacrifice fly from KB Sides in the bottom of the fourth made it 5-1 and the Ragin’ Cajuns would only get one hit across the final three innings as the Tide closed the door on the weekend sweep.
The bottom of the Tide order accounted for the majority of its production, with Woodard, Taylor Clark and Brown combining to go 4-for-8 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Krystal Goodman (6-1) got the win in the circle with just one run allowed over 4.0 innings pitched while Montana Fouts earned the three-inning save behind her, with her first batter faced earning a hit before she retired the next nine straight including four strikeouts.
FROM HEAD COACH PATRICK MURPHY
“Firstly, thanks to Louisiana for coming up to play us. That’s where I got my coaching start and it’s one of my favorite places on earth. It was another great game today against a good opponent. We had great weather, great fans and overall it was just a really great weekend. Games like this against good competition will help build our resume and confidence within our players. These games were challenging for both teams and allowed our hitters to face some really good pitchers and forced them to bring it. Whether you are winning or losing against a really good quality team, you are able to learn more about your own team.”
HIGHLIGHTS
- Alabama improves to 8-6 all-time vs. Louisiana and 6-1 at home against the Ragin’ Cajuns
- The Crimson Tide is now 24-1 in non-conference play
- Alabama improves its record against ranked opponents this season to 16-6
- The Tide is 29-2 when scoring first
- Alabama has now scored four or more runs in four straight games, three of which have come against ranked opponents
- The win was just the fourth this season when out-hit by the opponent
- Savannah Woodard’s inside-the-park home run was the eighth in program history and first since Feb. 23, 2019
- KB Sides did not earn a hit, ending her hitting streak at 10 games, but drew a pair of walks to improve her reached base streak to 20 games
- Bailey Hemphill’s walk gives her sole possession of third place in SEC history with 213 career walks
SCORING SUMMARY
- B2 | An infield slap single from Elissa Brown scored one and the trailing runner scored on a throwing error (2-0, 1 Out)
- T3 | Louisiana got on the board with a sacrifice fly to center (2-1, 1 Out)
- B3 | Savannah Woodard bounced one off the center field wall and legged out an inside-the-park home run, scoring two (4-1, 2 Out)
- B4 | Brown tagged up and scored on a sacrifice fly from KB Sides (5-1, 1 Out)
UP NEXT – ALABAMA AT GEORGIA (ATHENS, GA.)
- Friday, April 30 – 5 p.m. CT
- Saturday, May 1 – 12 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
- Sunday, May 2 – 1 p.m. CT
