Walk-Off Win Caps Series Sweep for Alabama Over Georgia Monday in Tuscaloosa
Sophomore Kaylee Tow provided the biggest hit of the night for Alabama softball Monday at Rhoads Stadium, dropping a walk-off RBI single into left field to give the Crimson Tide the 4-3 win over Georgia, capping a series sweep.
Alabama (42-4, 11-4 SEC) built an early 3-0 lead, helped by three costly Georgia (30-14, 5-10 SEC) errors. The Bulldogs tied it up with an RBI double and two-run home run in the fifth before a three-base error in the bottom of the seventh set up Tow for the walk-off single. It was the Tide’s second walk-off win of the season and the series sweep is Alabama’s first over the Bulldogs since 2011.
In her first game action since March 24, freshman Montana Fouts threw 4.0 shutout innings in the start, fanning seven batters with just one hit allowed. Junior Sarah Cornell (17-1) ultimately picked up the win in relief, her second of the weekend, retiring all seven batters she faced.
With a runner on first and nobody out in the bottom of the second, junior Claire Jenkins laid down a sacrifice bunt attempt to move the runner but the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag, allowing her to reach on the error. The lead runner moved on to third, forcing a quick throw from Georgia that sailed into foul territory, allowing her to come home on the second error for the first run of the day while Jenkins moved all the way up to third. Freshman Skylar Wallace brought her home later in the inning on a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 2-0.
In the third inning with freshman Kloyee Anderson pinch-running at second base, she swiped third and an errant throw down the line allowed her to pop up and score on the error to make it 3-0. With a runner on second following a sacrifice bunt for Georgia in the top of the fifth, an RBI double down the left-field line got the Bulldogs on the board. A two-run home run later in the inning tied it up at 3-3.
Alabama got a pair on base in the bottom of the sixth but could not bring either home as it remained tied heading to the seventh. Georgia went down in order in the top of the inning and junior Elissa Brown’s speed leading off the bottom half forced a bad throw, costing the Bulldogs three bases with the potential winning run now 60 feet away. Tow sent the 3-1 pitch in her at-bat into shallow left, scoring Brown easily for the 4-3 walk-off victory.
Next weekend, Alabama hits the road for a three-game series against Florida (36-9, 9-6 SEC). Action in Gainesville begins Friday, April 19 with a doubleheader at 4:30 p.m. CT, with game one of that twin bill live on ESPN2. The series finale will air live on ESPN Saturday, April 20 at 1 p.m. CT.
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