Any anxiety about Alabama's tough Regional draw proved to be unfounded. Vic Moten's masterful pitching performance on Sunday clinched the Tuscaloosa Regional for the Crimson Tide and gave Alabama its third shutout in as many days.
Alabama closed the Regional the way they opened it: with a rout of USC Upstate.
Alabama's wins over Upstate were sandwiched between a 3-0 win over Belmont on Saturday as Patrick Murphy's club won three games by a combined score of 20-0. Murphy used Kaitlyn Pallozzi in the first game, and then Jocelyn Briski and Moten followed with dominant efforts of their own.
In total, Alabama's three starting pitchers combined for this in the Regional:
18.0 innings, 6 hits, 0 ER, 3 BB, 14 K
Six hits across three games. That's it. Elite stuff.
Alabama softball routs USC Upstate 9-0 to advance to Super Regionals
Like Briski on Saturday, Moten took a no-hitter into the 6th inning before giving up a single through the middle. Even still, USC Uptate could do little against the talented freshman.
Alabama's offense had little trouble giving her support, much more than she ever needed.
The Tide racked up 10 hits and plated nine runs on Sunday afternoon. After a three-up, three-down opening inning, Audrey Vandagriff continued her scorching hot May with a two-run homer to put Alabama up 2-0 in the 2nd.
Jena Young and Brooke Wells went back-to-back in the third inning, with Young hitting a two-run homer before Wells extended her streak to six consecutive weekends with at least one home run. That put Alabama up 5-0, and the game was never in doubt from there.
Wells added an RBI double in the 6th to extend the lead to 6-0. Alabama added three more in the 7th, with Salen Hawkins ripping a much-needed RBI single, and then Young hitting her second homer of the day to push the lead ot 9-0.
Alabama advances to the Super Regionals, where they will host a best-of-three against the winner of LSU and Virginia Tech. The Tigers need just one win on Sunday to advance, while the Hokies need to earn consecutive victories to pull the upset in Baton Rouge.
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