Alabama Softball Drops Walk-Off Loss to Georgia, 4-3

Alabama softball dropped a heartbreaker Saturday night in Athens, as Georgia rallied to defeat the Crimson Tide, 4-3, in walk-off fashion.

Alabama (28-17, 8-12 SEC) took the first lead over Georgia (42-7, 15-5 SEC) in the top of the second, scoring two on an RBI single and bases-loaded walk. The Crimson Tide tacked on another in the top of the fourth to lead 3-0 before the Bulldogs cut into the deficit with a two-run fifth inning. With Alabama unable to add to the one-run lead in the sixth or seventh innings, Georgia rallied back in the final half-inning with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch tying the game at 3-3 before an RBI single in the next at-bat ended it to give them the 4-3 victory.

Sophomore Elissa Brown was 3-for-4 in the game, swiping a pair of bases and scoring a run. She drove in the first run of the game on an RBI single, with the Tide’s remaining RBIs coming from a single from senior Demi Turner and a bases-loaded walk from freshman Kaylee Tow. Courtney Gettins (11-4) took the loss in the complete game effort. Georgia starter Amanda Ablan lasted just 1.2 innings, credited with two runs against her, while left-hander Kylie Bass (13-2) earned the win in relief, allowing one run over 5.1 innings pitched.

Alabama stranded two on base in the top of the first and Georgia’s Cortni Emanuel led off the bottom-half of the inning with a single and moved all the way to third thanks to a fielding error on the same play. Two batters later, Gettins fielded a grounder and fired home in time to tag out Emanuel trying to score for the second out of the inning. Sophomore Claire Jenkins dove to keep a hard-hit grounder in the infield, collecting it and firing to second for an inning-ending force out to keep the game scoreless.

With two on and two out in the top of the second, Brown ripped a hard single through the right side with the infield playing in, scoring junior Reagan Dykes from second base to put the Tide ahead 1-0. Turner drew a walk to load the bases and Tow followed with another walk as everyone moved up 60 feet to make it a 2-0 game. That ended Ablan’s starting effort in the circle as Bass entered to pitch and a diving catch from shortstop Alyssa DiCarlo ended the inning with the Tide leading by two.

Brown tallied her second hit of the day with one out in the top of the fourth, beating out a bunt single and then immediately stealing second base on the first pitch of the next at-bat. Turner then laced a single into right field, scoring Brown to make it 3-0 while Turner was able to hustle all the way up to third on a two-base error. A strikeout and popup in foul territory would end the inning and leave the runner stranded 60 feet away.

With the score still 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Georgia led off the inning with a single and walk before a sacrifice bunt moved the pair into scoring position, now with one out. The runner at third came home on what would have been a groundout, making the score 3-1, but a fielding error allowed the batter to reach base safely as the Bulldogs now had runners at the corners with one out. A successful stolen base put two Georgia runners in scoring position again and a long fly ball to left was caught at the warning track, with the runner at third able to tag up and score on the sacrifice fly. After an intentional walk to DiCarlo, Brown ran down a fly ball in center field to end the inning with the Tide’s lead cut to 3-2.

Alabama could not add to its 3-2 lead in the sixth or seventh, taking a one-run advantage to the bottom of the seventh. Emanuel beat out a one-out infield single and Justice Milz followed with another single to put runners at the corners. Another intentional walk to DiCarlo loaded the bases, setting up a force out at any base. A hit-by-pitch moved everyone up 60 feet to tie the game before an RBI single ended it with Georgia coming back to win in walk-off fashion, 4-3.

Game three of the weekend series is set for a 1 p.m. CT start on Sunday, April 29.

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