Alabama softball downed Texas 2-1 in its series to pull off the Crimson Tide’s first series victory against a No. 1-ranked team in 10 years.
“I think you saw great resiliency and some really good determination from our team, because they’re No. 1 for a reason,” head coach Patrick Murphy said. “They’re a very good team.”
Game 1: Texas 9, Alabama 1
In front of a nearly full house, Alabama faced a No. 1-ranked opponent at home for the first time since 2020. Excitement was at a fever pitch, and the team even opened the left field terrace to accommodate extra fans.
“It’s a huge weekend for us. Our girls know it. I’m confident Texas knows it,” Murphy said Wednesday. “They’ve come over here and played before. So it won’t be a surprise.”
Murphy was right about the Longhorns being prepared for the Rhoads house. The defending champs struck early and struck hard.
The Crimson Tide placed its star pitcher Jocelyn Briski in the circle first, and Texas was ready, drawing first blood early. Whether the ball was supposed to drop or rise, nobody knew or cared, because when the Longhorn bat struck the ball, there was no doubt.
The ball cleared the fence, and the game was underway.
When the Crimson Tide finally got a chance to rebound, the Longhorns sat them down, and they did not relent on either side.
The Longhorns shelled Briski, and when she was pulled in the fourth inning, she had let up five runs.
The only time that Alabama graced the board was when Marlie Giles smacked an RBI single.
When the torrent of Texas let up, the score was 9-1.
“It wasn’t a good performance for us tonight. The pitching and offense were not what I’ve seen for 35 games. With such a good team like Texas, we’ve really got to be better tomorrow and keep up with them throughout the game,” Murphy said.
Game 2: Alabama 11, Texas 4
Coming out of a loss on Thursday, Alabama secured its first win over a No. 1-ranked team in the last six years on Friday, bringing down Texas 11-4.
Vic Moten opened up the first inning pitching for Alabama, and she got off to a rough start. Moten allowed five walks, a season high for her, before she was taken out and Jocelyn Briski entered in relief.
After a 30-minute top of the first, Texas was up 2-0 and Alabama went runless in the bottom.
Texas opened up the second inning with a home run but couldn’t produce a solid pitching effort in the bottom of the second. This allowed for multiple walks from Alabama, which brought home infielder Salen Hawkins and put Alabama’s first run on the board.
Hawkins’ run turned the tide for Alabama, and with two outs, first baseman Brooke Wells smacked a three-RBI double to right center that put Alabama ahead 5-4 and landed herself on second base.
From there, it just kept getting worse for Texas, which went runless throughout the rest of the game.
Moten reentered the game, pitching in the third after Alabama took the lead. Her performance in the third came in stark contrast to her first few pitches, allowing Texas to reach base only once in the inning.
“Obviously it wasn’t a good start,” Murphy said. “I think five freebies in the first inning and before you look up its four and nothing and it’s like, ‘Here we go again,’ then in the bottom we had our best hitter up to bat and bases loaded. Vic comes in and the second time around is way better than this first time.”
Game 3: Alabama 7, Texas 4
Alabama kept its momentum from its Friday night win going on Saturday to take down Texas 7-4, securing the series win.
Moten opened up the game in the circle for Alabama. She got off to a much better start compared to Friday, with Texas’s first two batters going out swinging.
Batting-wise, Alabama didn’t get off to a much better start than Texas did, not reaching base a single time.
Texas put the first run of the game on the board in the second with a home run to the left. This gave Alabama the spark it needed. With one on base, center fielder Audrey Vandagriff hit a double to right field, bringing home catcher Marlie Giles.
A batter later, Young hit a home run, also bringing in Vandagriff and Giles, advancing the score 3-1. White hit a double to left field immediately after, taking her all the way to second base. Pupillo then brought White home with a double to left, ending the second 4-1.
Both teams went scoreless in the third before Texas briefly struck back in the fourth with a home run to bring in two, catching the score up to 4-3.
Texas only brought in one more run throughout the rest of the game, while Alabama increased its tally to 7.
“We got our butts kicked Thursday night, no ‘ifs,’ ‘ands’ or ‘buts’ about it. It was just a bad night,” Murphy said. “Then to come back to win two, it says a lot about them.”
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