HONOLULU, Hawaii – Alabama softball closed out its week at the Rainbow Wahine Classic with a 6-2 win over Hawaii on Saturday.
Alabama (31-0) remains undefeated, defeating tournament-host Hawaii (19-9) for the second time this week. The Crimson Tide scored five unanswered runs to start the game before the Rainbow Wahine erased the shutout with a two-run home run in the sixth.
An RBI single in the top of the seventh pushed across the final run in the 6-2 victory. Six different players earned a hit in the win for Alabama, including a 2-for-4 day from senior Reagan Dykes. In the circle, junior Sarah Cornell (11-0) went the distance with a season-high seven strikeouts.
After a hitless first inning, Merris Schroder and Claire Jenkins hit back-to-back singles with one out and Maddie Morgan followed with a third, driving in a run to make it 1-0. Later, an errant throw allowed the inning to continue and a run to cross to make it 2-0.
With two on and one out in the top of the fourth, a booted ball bounced into the outfield as Morgan scored from second on the error to push the lead to 3-0. After a groundout, a single back up the middle from Bailey Hemphill plated two more to make it 5-0.
After tallying just one hit in the first five innings, Hawaii hit its second with one out in the bottom of the sixth and its third hit of the day two batters later put them in the run column, as the two-run home run trimmed the Tide’s lead to 5-2. An RBI single from Dykes gave Alabama an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Hawaii put two on base in the bottom of the seventh but did not score, as Alabama held on to win, 6-2.
Next weekend, the Tide resumes SEC play with a three-game road series at Texas A&M (16-10, 1-4 SEC) beginning Friday, March 22 at 6 p.m. CT.
