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ALABAMA 8, TEXAS 5
Alabama’s five-run 3rd inning boosted their cause and helped send them back to the Women’s College World Series.
Both teams were scoreless through the first 1.5 innings on Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa. However, Bama struck first blood when KB Sides hit an RBI single that allowed for Maddie Morgan to race home and score. The game was tied though in the top of the 2nd when Texas’ Mary Iakopo knotted things up with an RBI single of her own. Iakopo’s single brought leadoff hitter Lauren Burke home, and Texas was poised to strike again. But Montana Fouts was able to elude further damage, and on we went to the bottom of the 3rd.
That was when Bama felt they’d had enough of this mess. Fist, Morgan hit a sac fly to left, and brought home Skylar Wallace to break the tie. A few batters later, KB Sides squared up and pulverized a bat to center, hitting a three-run bomb to give them a 5-1 lead. But that wasn’t enough for Alabama, either.
Bailey Hemphill continued the great week for Baileys of all kinds and spellings with her solo shot, a back-to-back jack that pushed their lead up to 6-1. Maddie Morgan would step up again in the next inning. Morgan punched in a single which scored Wallace again to thrust the lead up to 7-1.
Texas wouldn’t go away though. Shannon Rhodes hit a grand slam that made it 7-5. With memories of the Longhorns’ comeback still burned in their minds, this certainly put some fear in Bama’s minds. Luckily, there was Maddie Morgan again. Morgan hit another RBI single, collecting her third RBI of the day. That brought, you guessed it, Skylar Wallace in to score and Alabama was up 8-5.
Texas threatened in the top of the 7th as they got two runners on. But Fouts got MK Tedder to fly out to end the threat, the game and the Longhorns’ season.
MINNESOTA 3, LSU 0
LSU was sent home to Baton Rouge after losing 3-0 to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Gophers, who are going to their first WCWS, swept through the Bayou Bengals in the Minneapolis Super Regional. It ends a very successful season for the Fighting Tigers, who unfortunately just couldn’t get it done on Saturday afternoon.
The game was scoreless through the first four innings, but that changed at the start of the 5th. Allie Arneson led off the inning with a solo blast to give Minnesota the lead. Two innings later, the Gophers struck and dealt the final nails in the coffin. Emma Burns singled up the middle and plated Katelyn Kemetmueller home with the hit. Then, Carlie Brandt punched one down the left field line to score Burns to give them a 3-0 lead.
Thanks in part to a great performance by Amber Fiser, the Gophers kept the Tigers down on the scoreboard. She pitched a complete game shutout, with four strikeouts and three walks.
TENNESSEE 3, FLORIDA 2
In a marathon of a game, the Tennessee Volunteers evened up the series with the Florida Gators to set up a decisive Game 3 on Sunday.
Tennessee and Florida went blow for blow with one another all the way until the 9th inning. And now, with a trip to OKC on the line, the Vols and Gators will partake in another high stakes all-SEC bout to cap off the Super Regionals.
The Vols got things started off the back of an RBI single by Chelsea Seggern. Seggern’s single to right scored Aubrey Leach, and the Vols held that lead until the 4th. In the top frame, Jaimie Hoover hit a single to left that plated Amanda Beane. The game would be tied for only a short amount of time, however. In the bottom frame, Madison Pacini hit a single to score Kaili Phillips, a hit that put Tennessee up on top again.
Florida was ready to fight back though, and fight back they did. Hannah Adams hit a single to center to bring home Jade Caraway. That tied things up at two, and for the next four innings, that’s how we’d remain.
That is until the bottom of the 9th. Tennessee’s Haley Bearden drew a bases loaded walk, scoring Leach, and gave the Vols a hugely important win to save their season for now.
ARIZONA 9, OLE MISS 1
Arizona dusted Ole Miss in Tucson, sending them packing after a 9-1 win that helped them sweep through the Tucson Regional.
The Rebels fell behind early in the 2nd inning, thanks in part to a homer by Dejah Mulipola. However, Ole Miss wouldn’t let that lead stand for too long. Abbey Latham swung and drove one over the fence in the bottom of the 3rd to knot things up in the bottom of the 3rd.
What Ole Miss didn’t know however was what was to come in the top of the 4th. The Wildcats dropped a three-spot on the Rebs that inning, distancing themselves away from their adversaries.
Reyna Carranco drove in a run with a single to start the scoring spree. Afterwards, Hanah Bowen hit a single, and after an error, Carranco scored and Mulipola followed in after.
In the 5th, Malia Martinez went deep with a solo bomb to push the lead up to 5-1. And then in the top of the 7th, the scoring spree continued. UofA dropped four runs on Ole Miss in the penultimate stanza. Alyssa Palomino started things off with a two-run bomb. Afterwards, Rylee Pierce punched another run in on a single, and then Carranco reached on an error that allowed for Mulipola to run in and score the final run of the game.
WASHINGTON 5, KENTUCKY 0
The Washington Huskies swept through the Seattle Regional and are now once again on to the Women’s College World Series.
They did so at the expense of the Kentucky Wildcats, as they blanked them yet again, this time with a 5-0 result.
Washington got on the board in the top of the 1st. Morganne Flores hit a double and then after a series of errors was able to run around and score. It was Flores’ first of two hits that she’d have on the afternoon as she’s up to a robust .361 on the season after this performance.
Later on in the 6th inning, the Huskies were at it again. Noelle Hee smacked a two-run homer over the fence. Then, in the top of the 7th, Taryn Atlee poured it on with a two-run single to bring the aptly named Madison Huskey and Sami Reynolds home to score.