CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Alabama softball team won its first two games at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational on Thursday, defeating Liberty 7-1 before posting an 8-0 shutout in five innings over top-ranked Washington.
The win over the Huskies (6-1) was the first run-rule shutout over the top-ranked team in the country for Alabama (3-3) and its first shutout of No. 1 since the 2017 NCAA Regional round vs. Minnesota.
“What a great day for Crimson Tide softball on the biggest stage of the year thus far,” Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said. “Sometimes, a team needs a little more time to gel and come together. We still have a lot to work on. I’m really proud of both Krystal (Goodman) and Lexi (Kilfoyl) for giving us great starts today. It starts in the circle, and they both shined.”
Goodman (1-0) allowed just one run in the win over Liberty (1-5) before Kilfoyl (2-2) held the top-ranked Huskies scoreless on just one hit and two walks with six strikeouts.
Skylar Wallace paced the offense with a 4-for-7 day while Kaylee Tow and KB Sides each had three hits, combining to score seven of the Tide’s 15 runs.
Freshman Abby Doerr made her Crimson Tide debut, blasting a two-run home run against the Flames in her second career at-bat.
Bailey Hemphill sent one over the wall against the Huskies, pushing her career total to 49 which sits five shy of fourth-place Amanda Locke (2008-12).
Alabama senior outfielder Elissa Brown underwent successful surgery this week for a broken hand and is out indefinitely but is expected to make a full recovery and return later this season.
Alabama continues play at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational with a pair of games Friday, facing USF (9:30 a.m.) and third-ranked UCLA (3 p.m.).
