Alabama Softball Takes Two On First Day Of Stanford Nike Invitational

The Alabama softball team (9-0) headed west for a set of games and the start to the weekend couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start with the ladies getting wins against Stanford and Pacific on Friday.

Game 1: Alabama 13, Pacific 0 (5 innings)

Tide pitcher Sydney Littlejohn got the start in the circle and limited the damage from Pacific by only allowing three hits all game. The Tide also tied a season-high of 13 points scored with four different players turning in multi-RBI performances.

Danielle Richard got the Tide scoring going in the first with an RBI single that would send Haylie McCleney across the plate. Chauncey Bell launched a double to the left gap that cleared Richard off of the bases. Leona Lafaele followed that with a double of her own to bring in Bell to give the Tide the 3-0 lead.

A wild pitch during the third inning put two runners into scoring position, Demi Turner drove both runs in with a 2 RBI single over the third baseman.

Turner reached base during the fourth inning by way of bunt and stolen base. Richard would add to an RBI single to her stats to give the Tide the 6-0 lead. Later in that same inning, a fielding error charged in center field let three more runs to push the Tide lead out to 9-0.

Turner put the ball into play into right field and with the charged error, Kallie Case rounded the bases from first to give the Tide the 10-0 lead. With runners on the corners, Carrigan Fain lined one to the pitcher but still one more run came across home plate. Marisa Runyon made it 13-0 with a 2 RBI triple.

Game 2: Alabama 15, Stanford 6

The Tide jumped out to an 6-1 early lead but would see that cushion go away in the fourth as the Cardinals tightened things up.

Turner’s bat for the Tide was on fire for the second game of the double header and drove in five runs for Alabama with a two run home run as well as a three run homer.

From RollTide.com’s recap:

"Turner was part of a dominant top of the order for Alabama, who along with McCleney and Danielle Richard went a combined 6-11 with six runs and 10 RBI on the day. Freshman Alexis Osorio made the start and threw nearly 100 pitches through 3.1 innings pitched, but senior Lesile Jury (3-0) persevered for the win in relief, holding the Cardinal scoreless for the remainder of the game."

Bell singled to left field which scored Bell who had just led off the game with a single of her own. After the Tide let the Cardinals’ load the bases in the bottom half of the frame, a sacrifice fly tied the game up at 1.

In the next inning, a well placed sacrifice bunt from Case pushed the two Tide runners into scoring position. McCleney was intentionally walked to set up Turner at the plate. She hit a deep double to clear the bases and put the Tide ahead 4-1. A double by Richard and a single by Jadyn Spencer drove in two more runs.

Stanford continued to chip away at the lead, cutting it down to 1 in the Stanford half of the third.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Cardinals would tie the Tide at 6 after a double would allow one to score.

And that’s when the Tide’s big rally started. From RollTide.com:

"Danae Hays slid into first base to beat out a two-out infield single in the top of the fifth and that allowed the Tide to string together a big rally. A wild pitch moved Hays to second and Case drove in a pair of runs on a double to left field and advance to third on a throwing error. McCleney followed that with an RBI single to the same spot, scoring Case to make it 9-6, and Turner then connected for her first career long ball, sending a two-run homer over the center field fence to make it 11-6.A three-run triple by McCleney in the seventh made it 14-6 and Carrigan Fain, pinch hitting for Richard, drove in McCleney on a groundout to make it 15-6. Stanford got a pair of runners on in the bottom half but it was too little, too late as a groundout ended it to give the Tide a nine-run victory."