The Alabama softball team made it to the second round of the SEC softball tournament at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens, Georgia, surviving against Auburn but falling to South Carolina on Wednesday.
Game 1: Alabama 3, Auburn 2
After Auburn took an early lead with a solo homerun in the first, Alabama shortstop Salen Hawkins tied the game with an RBI double in the second.
The Crimson Tide took the lead the next inning when second baseman Kali Heivilin launched an RBI triple into the outfield, then a sacrifice fly from Hawkins put the Crimson Tide up by two runs.
Following another run on the board for Auburn in the sixth, and another scoreless inning for Alabama, pitcher Jocelyn Briski put Auburn’s SEC tournament run to rest, ending the game with her eighth strikeout of the night. Briski pitched all seven innings, marking her fifth complete game this season.
Hawkins had many game-saving assists, including a bare-handed catch and throw to first baseman Abby Duchscherer to stop the runner at first.
The Crimson Tide’s offense noticeably slowed down after the third inning, with head coach Patrick Murphy giving credit to Auburn pitcher SJ Geurin.
“You can see why she [Geurin] won 20 games in the regular season. She’s like the prototypical ‘crafty lefty’ type of pitcher,” Murphy said. “We hit the backside of the ball a few times and had some really good at-bats. I was worried we’d start rolling over it and pulling the ball because that’s exactly what she wanted us to do, but we stayed behind the ball, found some gaps and Briski and the defense did the rest.”
Game 2: South Carolina 6, Alabama 2
On day 2 of the tournament, Alabama faced South Carolina in a rematch of the teams’ final regular-season series. Poor offensive performance and issues on defense ended the Crimson Tide’s journey to an SEC title.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Alabama began the game in spectacular fashion. Leadoff batter Audrey Vandagriff hit a long home run, hitting the athletic facility next to the parking lot. Later in the same inning, outfielder Lauren Johnson extended the lead for the Crimson Tide when an RBI landed in the outfield, allowing her to get home from third.
South Carolina got on the board in the bottom of the first, then tied it up in the third. Alabama’s bats went cold after the first, not getting another runner home for the game.
First baseman Arianna Rodi gave the Gamecocks the lead with back-to-back two-run home runs in consecutive innings, raising the score to 6-2 South Carolina. In what could’ve been a late game comeback for Alabama, pinch hitter Mari Hubbard began the seventh with a double, only for pitcher Jori Heard and the South Carolina defense to retire the next three batters, ending the Crimson Tide’s run.
“It was just not a good game for us. The pitches we threw that they hit were not good pitches. We missed our spots a lot unfortunately, and they took advantage,” Murphy said. “They did a great job capitalizing on the mistakes. We didn’t capitalize enough in the first inning when we had our opportunity.”
The selection show for the NCAA Tournament is scheduled for Sunday.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Alabama softball falls in second round of 2025 SEC tournament )
Also on site :