For the second day in a row, the Washington Huskies defeated the University of Alabama softball team courtesy of the long ball. Before lighting caused a 90-minute delay at Rhoads Stadium, thunder struck twice at the plate for Washington with two solo homers and again afterward to give the Huskies the only runs they needed for a 3-0 victory over the Crimson Tide.
“We had a lot of people batting leadoff get on. We had people on base almost every inning. We hit into the double play and just didn’t get the key hit,” Murphy said. “I’d take that any pitching performance any day against a top 10 team. We just have to score.”
It didn’t take long for Washington to take an early lead over Alabama (37-11), as senior Sydney Littlejohn was taken deep by Ali Aguilar on the game’s first pitch to give put the Huskies (34-10) ahead early.
“(Littlejohn) did her job. When she does almost shut out an opponent, we’ve got to come through and score some runs because she’s feeling good about herself,” Murphy said. “We just didn’t do that.
As Littlejohn regained her composure, Alabama’s bats couldn’t muster much at the plate before Julia Deponte and Sis Bates added to the Huskies’ lead with a solo homers. After pitching a complete game for the win last night, Taran Alvelo started for the Huskies and threw three innings, giving up just three hits and keeping the Tide off the scoreboard before returning in the firth after the delay to get the final eight outs.
The Tide’s best chance at getting on the scoreboard was squandered in the fourth inning as Sydney Booker lined out straight to second base where Chandler Dare was tagged out, ending the inning and leaving a runner stranded on third.
“We were getting people on base but weren’t getting the valuable hit that they were getting,” Booker said. “We need to jump on pitches more earlier in the count and prepare for and knowing what they’re going to throw us.”
Futility at the plate has become a bit of a trend against ranked teams as the Crimson Tide has combined for just four runs in its last four contests, all of which have been losses.
The Crimson Tide will be back in action in Birmingham against Samford on Tuesday.
