Bama defeats Western Michigan, continues win streak

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama softball took the early lead over Western Michigan Tuesday night at Rhoads Stadium and ultimately held on to win, 3-1.

Alabama (18-3) jumped ahead of Western Michigan (5-8) quickly with two runs in the first on an RBI single from Ashley Prange and a sac fly RBI from Ally Shipman. The score remained the same until the sixth inning, when the Broncos erased Jaala Torrence’s (5-2) no-hit bid and the shutout with a solo home run to lead off the frame, making it 2-1. The Tide got one back in the bottom of the sixth on a pinch-hit RBI single from Lauren Esman to make it 3-1 and Montana Fouts closed the door in the seventh, striking out the side for her first save of the season.

Coming off a no-hitter in her last start, Torrence was sharp again in the circle with the solo home run as the only hit allowed in an efficient 66-pitch outing over 5.2 innings pitched. Fouts’ three strikeouts in relief improves her career total to 968, putting her 32 shy of becoming the fifth pitcher in program history to reach 1,000 strikeouts.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy
“I was really pleased with Jaala Torrence’s start. The one thing we ask our pitchers is to give us a chance to win – period. You don’t have to throw a perfect game or a no-hitter, even though she had one again through five innings. It was just a great game for her. I thought her velocity was really good. [Ashley] Prange made two hellacious plays behind her that took away two hits. The first inning, our hitters came out and scored two runs right off the bat, and then their pitcher kind of settled down, so kudos to her. Lauren Esman got a really good RBI off the bench for us in the bottom of the sixth.”

Highlights

• Alabama is 13-2 this season when scoring first and 8-2 when scoring in the first inning
• The sixth-inning solo home run ended Alabama’s shutout innings streak at 43.0 innings, a streak that stretched back to the seventh inning against Kennesaw State on Feb. 26
• Jaala Torrence’s 5.2 innings pitched are a season high and her four strikeouts ties her season high
• Montana Fouts’ save is her first of the season and the 12th of her career, putting her four shy of tying Shelley Laird (1999-2002) and Alexis Osorio (2015-18) for second all-time in Tide history
• Fouts now has 968 for her career, just 32 away from becoming the fifth Tide player to reach 1,000

Scoring Summary
B1 | Ashley Prange dropped an RBI single into shallow right (1-0, 0 Out)
B1 | Prange tagged up and scored from third on a sac fly RBI from Ally Shipman (2-0, 0 Out)
T6 | Western Michigan ended the no-hit bid and the shutout with a solo home run (2-1, 0 Out)
B6 | Lauren Esman sent a pinch-hit single up the middle, driving in Emma Broadfoot from second (3-1, 2 Out)

Up Next: at UAB

• Wednesday, March 8 at UAB – Birmingham, Ala. – 6 p.m. CT