Bama takes care of business on Day 1.
ALABAMA 8, USC UPSTATE 0 (5 Inn. run rule)
The Spartans’ starting pitcher had no problem with the Tide’s first three batters. It was the middle and the bottom of the Alabama order in the second frame that broke this game open. The inning looked like a cat who had captured a mouse, had it cornered, and was just toying with it.
It all started with Marlie Giles with a one-out kablooey over the right center field wall.
Audrey Vandagriff followed up with a solid single up the middle and then swiped second base. After a ground out moved her to third, Salen Hawkins was hit by a pitch and then she stole second. Kristen White hit a high chopper that the pitcher fielded and appeared to attempt to tag the plate instead of Vandagriff who was safe. With first base open, she would have had to tag the runner. Reagardless, she was not in time for Bama to score run number two. White proceeded to steal the third base of the inning. Jena Young singled to pitcher but the other two runners were not able to advance. Brooke Wells singled up the middle for two more Bama runs and advanced to second on the throw. Alexis Pupillo joined the fun with a two run double to make it 6-0.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Vandagriff bashed a ball that sailed over the Southeastern Louisiana players who were watching the game in the left field stands.
More two out action for the Tide in the 4th. White singled and took second on an error. After two outs, Pupillo’s opposite field single made it 8-0 Alabama. Upstate was not able to score in the 5th and the mercy rule was enacted.
Kaitlyn Pallozzi (9-0) got the start in the circle and was okay. After the 1st inning 1-2-3, she allowed base runners in each of innings 2 through 5. She allowed four hits and two walks to go with a pair of strikeouts.
NOTES:
- You could see the confidence in Vandagriff from her very first at bat. Following the Giles homer, she attempted to bunt on the first pitch – which I guarantee you was a Gut® call from Patrick Murphy thinking the Spartans were back on their heels. The next pitch, she got a solid rip up the middle to get the big rally going. Next came the steal of second base which was not even close. On a ground out to third, she waited just long enough for the throw to first base to then took third base. This is looking like vintage 2025 Vandagriff. Oh, yeah. She also had a screaming home run.
- USCU put runners on the corners with two outs in the 3rd inning. The runner from first broke to steal and was caught in a rundown. The runner at third tried to score but the other runner was called out before her teammate crossed the plate.
- Alabama was very aggressive in their at bats, swinging early in the counts. The Tide had no walks in the game.
- Alabama is now 50-7. It is the first time the Tide has reached 50 wins in a season since 2021 when they were 52-9. Bama had 60 wins in 2012 and 2019. The 2000 team went 66-14 and the 2005 squad were at 63-15, but limit of games played were different. Today’s maximum of regular-season games is set at 56.
UP NEXT
Alabama plays Belmont who topped Southeastern Louisiana 2-0. [This will be the game thread for Saturday.]
BELMONT (41-14)
Maya Johnson (28-2) threw a four hit shutout in the opener. Although she hurled 115 pitches against SELA, don’t be surprised if she goes again against the Crimson Tide on Saturday. On 11 occasions this year, she has pitched on consecutive days and all were complete games. In the MVC Tournament, she pitched in three straight with two complete games.
She is the two-time MVC Pitcher of the Year and likely earns a second All-American honor this year with her nation-leading 0.64 ERA, 389 strikeouts, and her strikeout-to-walk ratio of 11.91. The redshirt senior has complete game wins at UGA (2-1) and Mississippi State (1-0) this season. She also had a complete game against Tennessee in which she struck out 11 Vols, but an unearned run handed her a 1-0 defeat.
The Bruins do have three other pitchers they occasionally employ, but two of them have ERAs over 4.25. Ellie Giles (17-8) is a little better at 2.49. The righty senior has very little experience against Power teams this season.
3B Rylee Spindler is hitting a blistering .451 this season with 13 doubles, four triples, three HR and 40 RBI. Her on-base percentage is .505. 2B Nicole Hughes’s batting average stands at .358. She leads the team with 14 doubles and 8 round-trippers. Her OB% is .473. As a team, the Bruins have only 37 homers which is pretty low. They score 5.1 runs per game which sounds good, but in softball that number is on the lower end of the spectrum.
TL/DR: This team’s success is 99.9% due to Maya Johnson. She is the real deal.
SCHEDULE
Tuscaloosa Regional
Fri, May 15
Game 2: Belmont 2, Southeastern Louisiana 0 – F
Sat, May 16
Game 3: 1 pm/2 pm| Alabama vs. Belmont
Game 4: 3:30/4:30 pm | USC Upstate vs. Southeastern Louisiana
Game 5: 6pm/7 pm | Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 3
Sun, May 17
Game 6: noon/1 pm | Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5
HOW TO WATCH… ALLEGEDLY
BOOOOO! ESPN+ streaming only. It just goes to show you how in tune ESPN is to college softball.
#RollTide #Team30
