re: Bama Softball 45-22 (16-11) (2022-23)

Clutch Home Run, Shutout Pitching Sends Alabama Softball to Super Regionals

The Crimson Tide advances to its 18th Super Regional round, 13th as a host

Forced into a winner-take-all game seven Sunday at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional, Alabama and Middle Tennessee fought in a scoreless pitcher's duel until fifth-year senior Ally Shipman blasted the go-ahead home run in the top of the seventh, the difference in the 1-0 win to send the Crimson Tide to next weekend's Super Regional round.

No. 5 seed Alabama (43-19) will host Super Regionals next weekend in Tuscaloosa, facing off against No. 12 seed Northwestern. Game dates and times are still to be determined. This marks the 18th time the Tide has advanced to the Super Regional round since the current postseason format was adopted in 2005 and will be the 13th time Alabama has served as a host, winning 11 of the previous 12 Super Regional rounds in Tuscaloosa.

Needing to win two games to advance out of the region, Middle Tennessee (42-20) took Sunday's first game against the Crimson Tide, 4-1, to force a deciding seventh game. The final game was a scoreless pitcher's duel until the top of the seventh, when Shipman led off the inning with a line-drive home run to left field. Jaala Torrence (9-2) and the Tide defense shut the door in the bottom half, allowing a two-out single before a groundout capped the complete-game shutout.

On the weekend, Torrence went 3-0 over 18.2 shutout innings, striking out 17 with just three walks. Shipman's home run Sunday was her second of the weekend, going 4-for-10 (.400) with three runs scored and four RBIs in Regional play.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy
"First, congrats to MTSU on a hell of a Regional. They represented their school, their conference and all of their families tremendously well. They had their first Regional win and made their first Regional final and you couldn't have told me that once in that game. They were very good. Both of their pitchers were great. It was back and forth the whole way. I've said it before, the keys are good starting pitching, great team defense and you have to come up with the key hit and [Ally Shipman] did that for us in the second game. That's high-level softball at the end of the year and that's what you're going to get in the postseason."