Alabama softball capped its weekend at the Hillenbrand Invitational with a 13-4 run-rule win over UIC to remain undefeated through two weeks of play.

Alabama (10-0) scored early and often against UIC (2-8), scoring in three of the four innings the Tide came to bat. Celebrating her 21st birthday, junior Bailey Hemphill led the offense with a 3-for-3 day including a pair of home runs and five RBIs. Sophomore KB Sides went 2-for-3 with a trio of RBIs, two of which came on her first career home run. Junior Courtney Gettins (1-0) threw 4.0 shutout innings to earn the win with sophomore Madison Preston throwing the final inning in the run-rule victory.

After a three-up, three-down top of the first, Alabama started the bottom half of the inning with a walk and single to put runners at the corners. Sides stole second to put two in scoring position and Hemphill drove both in with a single to the left-field gap to give the Tide a 2-0 lead. Junior Claire Jenkins added another with two out, driving in freshman pinch-runner Kloyee Anderson with an RBI double and sophomore Maddie Morgan followed that with an RBI single to make it 4-0.

With junior Elissa Brown leading off the bottom of the second, the UIC outfield was playing in and Brown roped one over the center fielder’s head for a leadoff triple. After sophomore Kaylee Tow drew a walk, Sides lifted a fly ball to center which allowed Brown to tag up and score on the sacrifice fly. Hemphill then crushed a no-doubt home run to the stands in left field, swelling the lead to 7-0. With the bases loaded and two out, freshman Skylar Wallace brought everyone home with a double to the wall in left-center before a strikeout ended the inning with the score now 10-0.

Following a leadoff single from freshman Kayla Davis, Sides showed off the power in the next at-bat to put Alabama ahead 12-0. Hemphill made it back-to-back long balls with a solo shot to stretch it to 13-0. UIC broke up the shutout in the top of the fourth with a solo home run and scored three more in the fifth but Alabama ultimately held on for the run-rule win, 13-4.

Next weekend, Alabama makes its 2019 home debut hosting the Easton Bama Bash. Action at Rhoads Stadium begins Friday, March 22 as the Tide welcomes Minnesota, Missouri State and ULM.

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.

More From Tide 100.9