Alabama Softball Drops Saturday Doubleheader to Tennessee

Alabama softball dropped both of its games to Tennessee in a Saturday doubleheader, falling 1-0 in a pitchers’ duel in the opener before dropping the second game, 13-3.

Alabama (27-15, 7-10 SEC) and Tennessee (40-8, 10-7 SEC) battled in a low-scoring affair in the opener, with a third-inning RBI double making the difference in the 1-0 loss. Senior Alexis Osorio (10-7) took the tough-luck loss in the circle but fanned 14 Lady Vol batters, earning her 1,000th career strikeout. She is the fourth pitcher in program history to reach the milestone and the first since Kelsi Dunne (2008-11). In game two, Alabama held an early 2-1 lead but Tennessee came storming back, out-scoring the Tide 12-1 down the stretch to post the double-digit win. Senior Rachel Bobo was 2-for-3 in the loss, the first multi-hit game of her career.

GAME ONE: TENNESSEE 1, ALABAMA 0

In the top of the second, Tennessee loaded the bases with one out on a walk, hit-by-pitch and check-swing single but Osorio kept them scoreless with back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the jam. In the bottom half of the inning, junior Merris Schroder ripped a double to the right-field corner but the runner at first base was tagged out at home trying to score as Schroder moved to third on the throw. A strikeout and popup kept Schroder stranded 60 feet away as it remained knotted at 0-0.

With a runner on second in the top of the third, Meghan Gregg knocked a double off the wall in center to score the first run of the game and give Tennessee a 1-0 lead. With the score the same in the bottom of the fifth, senior Sydney Booker was hit by a pitch to start the inning and hustled all the way to third on a great sacrifice bunt from senior Peyton Grantham. A popup and lineout kept her at third however as Alabama could not cut into the 1-0 deficit.

In the top of the seventh, Tennessee caught a break as the leadoff batter reached second on a throwing error but nothing came of it as the Lady Vols failed to add to its 1-0 lead. With one out in the bottom half, junior Merris Schroder was hit by a pitch and Booker reached on an error. A groundout moved the pair into scoring position with two out but a strikeout ended it as Tennessee held on to win by one.

GAME TWO: TENNESSEE 13, ALABAMA 3

Tennessee got on the board in the top of the first as Aubrey Leach made a heads-up play to round third and score on a groundout to the right side. In the bottom of the first, Booker drew a walk, stole second and moved to third on a groundout before coming home on an RBI single from sophomore Gabby Callaway to tie it at 1-1.

Junior Caroline Hardy led off the bottom of the second with a standup double and freshman KB Sides entered to pinch run. With two out and senior Demi Turner at the plate, Sides stole third and then Turner beat out an infield single to drive in the run and give Alabama a 2-1 lead.

With runners at the corners and two out in the top of the third, a hard grounder to short was deflected as the batter reached safely on the RBI single to tie it at 2-2. A walk loaded the bases before a swinging strikeout ended the inning and limited the damage to one run.

In the top of the fourth with a runner on first base, a high chopper allowed Jenna Holcomb to reach base safely on the infield single and an errant throw allowed her to move all the way to third and the runner ahead of her scored as Tennessee pulled ahead 3-2. An RBI single in the next at-bat stretched the Lady Vols’ lead to 4-2 and junior Courtney Gettins entered the game in relief. Meghan Gregg turned on the fourth pitch of her at-bat and pulled a two-run home run over the right field fence to make it 6-2 before a fly ball ended the inning.

Senior Carrigan Fain cut the deficit to three runs with a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the fourth. A sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth extended Tennessee’s lead back to four and a pair of singles in the top of the sixth added three more as it was now a 10-3 game. A three-run home run from Chelsea Seggern in the top of the seventh stretched the lead to double digits, which proved final as Tennessee claimed the weekend series with a 13-3 win.

The weekend series wraps up on Monday, April 23 at 6 p.m. CT live on SEC Network.

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