Alabama Softball Opens Home Stand with 4-2 Win Over Southern Miss Wednesday

Alabama softball opened its four-game home stand with a 4-2 win over Southern Miss Wednesday night at Rhoads Stadium.

Alabama (27-13) jumped ahead in the bottom of the second on a solo home run from senior Peyton Grantham before Southern Miss (16-30) tied it up at 1-1 in the next half-inning. An RBI single from sophomore Gabby Callaway in the bottom of the third gave the Crimson Tide a 2-1 lead and she padded the lead further in the fifth inning with a two-run home run. The Golden Eagles got a run back in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2 but ultimately stranded a pair on base as Alabama held on to win.

Callaway had a career-high three hits at the plate, marking her 11th multi-hit game of the season and her fifth in the last nine games. Junior Courtney Gettins (11-3) went the distance in the circle, holding Southern Miss to two runs while stranding seven runners on base.

“Courtney was under 100 pitches so it was an efficient outing,” UA head coach Patrick Murphy said. “She made the pitches when she needed to. We spread our walks and hits around; eight different people got on base. Callaway was really good at the plate today and Peyton’s home run was a big lift to opposite field on a changeup. I’m pleased with the win.”

Alabama also sported teal socks, ribbons and helmet stickers during the game in honor of Mississippi State player Alex Wilcox and her battle with ovarian cancer.

“It is an unfortunate situation for the young lady and, being an Alabama native, a lot of our girls know her,” Murphy said. “Since we don’t play them this year, we felt a midweek TV game was an opportunity for us to raise awareness and show that we’re thinking about her, praying for her and are behind her 100 percent.”

In the bottom of the second inning, Grantham put the Tide on the board first with a two-out solo home run to make it 1-0. With two on and one out in the top of the third, Samantha Papp tied it up with a long RBI single to right field before a 4-3 double play ended the half-inning with the score now 1-1.

Freshman Kaylee Tow bounced a two-out double off the left-field wall in the bottom of the third and Callaway drove her in with an RBI single up the middle to give Alabama a 2-1 lead. Callaway’s third hit of the day came in the bottom of the fifth, a two-run home run to extend the lead to 4-1.

After going down in order on five pitches in top of the fourth, Southern Miss threatened in the top of the fifth putting two in scoring position with two out. Gettins got the last batter swinging to end the inning and hold the three-run lead. It remained 4-1 heading to the top of the seventh and the Golden Eagles led off the inning with back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners. After a strikeout, a fly ball to center allowed the runner at third to tag up and score on the sacrifice fly to make it a two-run game. A walk put two on base, bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate, but a high popup ended the game as Alabama won, 4-2.

This weekend, Alabama hosts Tennessee for a three-game SEC series starting Saturday, April 21 at 4:30 p.m. CT. Game two is set for a 2 p.m. CT start on Sunday, April 22 live on ESPN2 and the series wraps up on Monday, April 23 at 6 p.m. CT live on SEC Network.

For the latest information on the team, follow @AlabamaSB on Twitter, BamaSB on Instagram and Alabama Softball on Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.