Crimson Tide Fall to Missouri Softball Saturday, 9-4

The No. 4 ranked Alabama softball team fell to No. 7 Missouri, 9-4, Saturday afternoon at Rhoads Stadium. After the day the Crimson Tide moves to 34-6 overall and 9-5 in Southeastern Conference play.

The Tigers (23-3, 8-2 SEC) scored nine runs on 10 hits with three of the runs unearned. Missouri used a four-run third inning to take an early lead and then added a single run in the fourth, another in the sixth and three more in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Senior Chelsea Thomas (14-2) earned the win, tossing six shutout innings while allowing five hits and striking out two. Alabama sophomore Leslie Jury (11-3) was tagged with the loss after allowing nine runs - six earned in 6 2/3 innings.

Kayla Kingsley paced the Tigers with three hits and two runs while Emily Crane batted 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI. Sophomore Jadyn Spencer batted 3-for-4 with a RBI while junior Kaila Hunt added a two-run home run.

Alabama tried to mount a comeback in the seventh, scoring four runs. Hunt got the bats started with a two-run homer with one out. Spencer followed with a RBI single with junior Jordan Patterson wrapping up the Alabama offense with a run on a fielder’s choice.

The two teams will close out the series on Sunday with an 11:30 a.m. start time (game originally scheduled for noon). Due to the late notice for Crimson Tide Sports Network affiliates, airtime on the network will remain at 11:50.