FLORENCE – The University of Alabama softball team traveled north for Wednesday’s neutral-site contest against Lipscomb at the Florence Sportsplex with the Crimson Tide coming out on top, 5-0.
Alabama (33-6) scored two runs in the first inning and added some insurance in the sixth to post five runs on nine hits, including two-hit performances by Marisa Runyon, Peyton Grantham and Reagan Dykes. Sydney Littlejohn (14-1) did her part in the circle, shutting down the Lipscomb (27-11) offense with a career-high 14 strikeouts in the three-hit shutout, her sixth shutout of the season.
The first two batters reached base safely for Alabama in the bottom of the second and after a passed ball moved them into scoring position, Bailey Hemphill drove in one on a sacrifice fly to left to put Alabama on top early. Strong winds on a popup by Grantham allowed the ball to fall in between defenders, good for an RBI double to put the Tide up 2-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, a leadoff walk and double in the gap put two in scoring position and a groundout to the right side by Chandler Dare drove in one to extend the Crimson Tide lead to 3-0. Later with a pair in scoring position and two out, Runyon pulled a single through the right side, scoring both to make it 5-0.
This weekend, Alabama welcomes eighth-ranked LSU (31-7, 7-2 SEC) to Rhoads Stadium for a three-game series starting Friday at 6:30 p.m.. Saturday’s game will air live on SEC Network at 8 p.m. and Sunday’s contest will air on ESPN2 at 2 p.m.
