Bama Central

Super Slam: Alabama Softball Upsets Tennessee to Advance to 15th WCWS

Riley Valentine's first-inning grand slam sends the Crimson Tide back to OKC.

Katie Windham

Alabama Athletics

Riley Valentine’s home run in regionals seemed to ignite the Alabama offense for the postseason, and her first-inning grand slam in Sunday’s super regional game at Tennessee sent the Crimson Tide back to Oklahoma City. 

No. 14 Alabama upset No. 3 Tennessee 4-1 to advance to the Women’s College World Series for the second straight season and 15th time in program history. It’s the first time the Tide has made the WCWS as the lower-seeded team since 2005. 

The grand slam came with two outs. All three runners ahead of Valentine reached with two outs. The rally was started with a single from Kenleigh Cahalan before Jenna Johnson and Marlie Giles were both hit by pitches.

Immediately after the Tide’s four-run top of the first inning, the game went into an almost three-hour rain delay. The Alabama softball program has a well-documented relationship with weather delays dating back to the 2012 WCWS championship game, and Sunday didn’t seem to bother the team at all. 

Alabama wasn’t able to add on any more runs after the first inning, but the Tide didn’t need them with the performance from freshman Jocelyn Briski in the circle. She threw 6.1 innings of one-run ball, and fifth-year senior Kayla Beaver came in to get the final two outs and the save.

For the second day in a row, Beaver got out of a bases-loaded jam in the final inning. Briski had been mowing down Lady Vols through the first six frames, not allowing any runs on just 78 pitches. However, she hit the first batter of the seventh inning and a single to centerfield put runners on the corners with no outs. A bunt single scored the first Tennessee run to cut the Alabama lead to 4-1.

Briski got a groundball out for the first out of the inning before Patrick Murphy turned to Beaver in the bullpen. The first batter she faced reached on a controversial hit by pitch to load the bases. Beaver got the next batter to pop out, and Tennessee got to bring one of its best hitters in program history to the plate with a chance to tie or win the game. Beaver got Kiki Milloy to ground out, which clinched the victory and sparked the dog pile for the Crimson Tide.

"I can’t even describe this feeling right now," Beaver said after the game. "I can’t be prouder of everybody on this team. This moment was something I had dreamt of and I get to do it with my sisters. Going out there in the seventh, I knew the defense had my back and I just had to trust myself, Lance [McMahon], Murph and everyone. They had confidence in me so I had no reason not to have confidence in myself. I couldn’t do what I do without them."

No. 14 Alabama will face No. 6 UCLA in the opening round of the WCWS on Thursday at 11 a.m.

"The word for me the last few weeks has been ‘redemption,'" Murphy said. "We had our first losing season in SEC play in 28 years. I kept preaching to the team that the best was yet to come. We had to believe it and that belief started with me. One day at practice everybody said one thing they were going to do to help the team win down the stretch. Mine was to have a short-term memory. I tend to dwell so I committed to it that day. The team bought in too. Now we’re heading to our 15th Women’s College World Series. I said last year was my most gratifying year but I have to say it again this year."

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Katie Windham

KATIE WINDHAM

Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports. 

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