Alabama Beats Florida 4-2 to Avoid a Series Sweep
After losing the series to Florida on Saturday, Alabama was able to keep the Gators from sweeping the series at Rhoads Stadium after winning 4-2 in the final game of the series.
“Obviously we did not want to get swept and I’m sure they wanted to sweep us,” said head coach Patrick Murphy. “I think the big thing was defense. Both teams had four hits and what it came down to was we played clean and they had a couple of mistakes.”
Montana Fouts started in the circle for the Crimson Tide to close out the series after opening on Friday.
She struck out six of the 11 batters she faced in the first three innings and she continued to strike out batters for the rest of the game.
She finished Sunday’s game with 10 strikeouts. She gave up three walks and four hits, Fouts is now 14-3 on the season.
“It takes somebody that’s preparing a lot, watching film, remembering what she threw to every batter,” said Murphy. “She’s got a razor sharp memory and she’s just a talented kid... she’s a true professional when it comes to preparation.”
Many times after games Fouts has been working to get better. Working on defensive play or throwing pitches to get closer to her goal of consistently hitting 70 miles per hour.
KB Sides led off the game with a single which set the tone for the Crimson Tide.
“I think my first at bat is definitely the most important because it sets the tone for the entire team,” said Sides. “It shows everyone in the lineup, especially the lefties, oh I can do this too.
The Crimson Tide offense was able to get on the board first after Sides and Bailey Hemphill singled. A ground out allowed Sides to score.
Alabama was able to keep Florida scoreless through two innings.
In the third, Fouts gave up two walks that would turn into two runs for the Gators.
"Montana gave up that walk and they scored. I thought in my head, okay cool let's score more," said Sides. "We're going to put some more runs up on the board for her."
Sides was able to stick to her thought when she got on base and Hemphill followed her in the third inning. She scored the second run of the game to cut Florida’s lead to one and pinch runner Kayla Davis quickly followed.
Alexis Mack led off in the fourth inning for the second time in the game and got a hit. This is her first hit in a while during conference play.
“She did exactly what we talked about before she got up there, she stuck to her plan,” said Murphy. “She got a rip and it was a nice solid single… she went to another part of her game and she got on.”
Mack would later score what would be Alabama’s final run of the game.
Alabama will play a midweek game on Wednesday against Southern Mississippi at 6 p.m. CT.
They will then face Louisianan Lafayette in a two game series on Saturday and Sunday both at 1:30 p.m. CT.
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