No. 24 Alabama Softball Drops Marathon Game to No. 13 LSU on Walk-Off in 14th Inning

A record-setting marathon game between Alabama and LSU went the Tigers' way at the SEC Tournament.

Alabama softball second baseman Kali Heivilin (22) in an SEC Tournament game against LSU. / Alabama Athletics

Wednesday morning's first game in SEC Tournament action at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, Ala., was set to be the opener for a four-game slate. The other three games were pushed back substantially, because No. 24 Alabama and No. 13 LSU set a new tournament record for longest game played by innings. After 14 of them, the equivalent of two full softball games, the eighth-seeded Tigers prevailed on a walk-off to win 3-2 and bounce the ninth-seeded Crimson Tide from the tournament.

The first inning started with the Alabama bats jumping on LSU starting pitcher Sydney Berzon. Three of the first four hitters reached. Second baseman Kali Heivilin, batting cleanup, cleaned up with a two-run double to left center. It was her first of two doubles on the morning-turned-afternoon. Those runs were the only ones of the game until the sixth inning. Heivilin was cut down at the plate trying to run home from third soon after her fourth-inning hit.

That run, if she had scored all else had held equal through seven innings, would have been the game winner.

On the other side, Alabama starter Kayla Beaver dealt through five scoreless frames, facing the minimum in two of those. In the sixth, she ran into trouble owing to four free passes. Head coach Patrick Murphy elected to stick with her through the rough waters, and she stranded the bases loaded, but not before LSU tied the game at two apiece.

The first run for the Tigers, the designated home team, came on a bases-loaded walk to Maci Bergeron on which McKenzie Redoutey scored. Beaver hit the next batter, pinch hitter Kelley Lynch, and things were back level. She induced a flyout to escape any more trouble, ensuring her offense at least wouldn't have to battle back from a deficit in the top of the seventh.

"Her energy, her passion, her fire, I absolutely love it," said Murphy. "She brings that to the team, and I think it spreads among everybody else on the field."

Beaver came back out for the seventh inning, but gave way to freshman Jocelyn Briski after walking the leadoff hitter. The game then almost ended in the regulation innings, but Briski struck out Tiger shortstop Taylor Pleasants with runners on the corners to leave the winning run 60 feet away.

The show, however, was only getting started. The Crimson Tide offense failed to capitalize on its baserunners in the eighth, and then Briski worked a three-up, three-down frame in the bottom half. A walk drawn by Alabama's Lauren Esman resulted in the only baserunner for either side in the ninth. By this point, enough innings had passed for a complete baseball game.

Alabama again stranded a pair of runners in the 10th. Pleasants hit a two-out single in the home half despite a great attempt at a forceout by Emma Broadfoot, but the side was retired on the next pitch. Briski was in a groove.

The 11th inning finally saw some defensive heroics for the game's outfielders, who were largely not busy owing to the rash of groundouts throughout the game for each side. The top of the inning featured the first Alabama flyout to left field of the entire game, off the bat of Broadfoot. The second retired the frame, when LSU left fielder Ali Newland dove way in and near the foul line to catch a fly ball from Kristen White. White did her one better with two outs in the home half when she laid out in center field to make a game-saving catch and extend the contest.

All the while, Berzon was still pitching. On multiple occasions, the Tigers warmed up Raelin Chaffin. However, it remained the starter's game to win or lose, and Berzon took to the task emphatically. After catcher Marlie Giles' two-out double in the 11th, the Crimson Tide did not get another hit. Giles was returning to the batter's box following time nursing an injury. Briski, for her part, wound up eclipsing Beaver in innings pitched, a mark she reached once she recorded the first out of the 13th.

After that 13th inning elapsed, the two teams set a record for the longest game, by innings, in SEC Tournament history. Berzon entered the 14th with 200 pitches even and left it with 208. Briski took to the circle one more time and gave up back-to-back singles before striking out Redoutey. Raeleen Gutierrez singled to load the bases with one gone, putting the Alabama freshman on thin ice and the Crimson Tide's chances of winning in major jeopardy.

Up next came Pleasants, who had an extra-inning walk-off against Texas A&M earlier this season. Briski got her to two strikes, having reached 100 pitches in her own right during the frame, but a 1-2 was sent way out to center field, where White couldn't track it down. Game over. The 2-2 tie which had stood since the bottom of the sixth inning was broken.

There were 432 combined pitches thrown in the game. All three pitchers threw up triple-digit pitch counts. LSU trailed or was tied for 431 of them, and in fact was in dire straits until command issues began to get to Beaver way back in the sixth. The game finished tied for second-longest in Alabama program history.

In the end, despite the fact that it only had a single hit entering the sixth inning, LSU (40-14, 13-12 SEC) outhit the Crimson Tide 10-8. Beaver's two-run inning featured only a single in the hit column. A combined 25 runners were left on base. In spite of all that, and the fact that two runners were left on multiple times for both teams, the only time someone left the bases loaded was that bottom of the sixth.

Murphy had spoken about the tournament being a clean slate. "Once the postseason starts, it's a clean slate for everybody," he said. "If you did well [in the regular season], good for you, but if you didn't do well, here's your chance. You can be MVP of the SEC Tournament and hit .200 during the regular season."

Indeed, the postseason is not over for the Crimson Tide (33-17, 10-15 SEC). The program's aspirations of hosting yet another NCAA regional at Rhoads Stadium remain intact, but would have benefited greatly from a win in the three-plus hour marathon on Wednesday. However, the offense failed to adjust once Berzon settled in. Multiple hitters saw her six times. The Tigers had some of those same issues with Beaver and Briski, whose repertoires were on full display.

When it came down to it, the game was about who was going to push over the finish line. LSU got the baserunners and the big hit it needed to walk things off, sending Alabama to an early conference tournament exit on the field it just spent a three-game series at this past weekend. The NCAA Tournament selection show will be on May 12, and the immediate next steps for the Crimson Tide will be unveiled at that time.