Softball Drops Saturday Contest to South Carolina, 5-1, Evening the Weekend Series

Alabama softball dropped game two of the weekend series to South Carolina Saturday night, 5-1, to even the weekend series.

Alabama (38-3, 8-3 SEC) tallied one run in the game against South Carolina (27-11, 4-9 SEC), a sixth-inning solo home run from junior Bailey Hemphill that erased the shutout. The home run was Hemphill’s 19th of the season, moving her to third on the UA single-season record books. Junior Courtney Gettins (5-2) took loss in the complete-game effort.

South Carolina took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the first, starting the inning with a double and a sac bunt before an RBI single brought the runner home from third two batters later. Alabama loaded the bases with two out in the top of the third but a shallow popup got the Gamecocks out of the jam and preserved the 1-0 lead.

The Gamecocks led off the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back doubles, moving ahead 2-0, and doubled its lead again in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run home run to make it 4-0. With two in scoring position and two out, Lauren Stewart beat out an infield single to tack on another run before a groundout ended the inning with the Tide now trailing 5-0.

Hemphill erased the shutout with a solo home run to start the sixth inning. South Carolina couldn’t add to its 5-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth but the Tide couldn’t muster a comeback in the final half-inning, falling to even the weekend series.

The series rubber match is set for a 12 p.m. CT first pitch on Sunday, April 7.

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