re: Bama Softball 39-20 (10-14) (2023-24)

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A trio of home runs helped push Alabama softball to a 9-4 win over Kentucky Friday night, evening the weekend series heading into game three on Saturday.

After two scoreless innings, Alabama (26-7, 3-5 SEC) took the first lead over Kentucky (22-12, 1-7 SEC) with a solo home run from Kali Heivilin and a sac fly RBI from Jenna Johnson later in the inning made it a 2-0 game. A solo home run from Marlie Giles in the fourth and an RBI double from Kenleigh Cahalan in the fifth doubled the lead to 4-0. With two out in the bottom of the fifth, a hit-by-pitch and walk extended the inning and Erin Coffel capitalized with a three-run home run to draw back within one, down 4-3.

With one out in the top of the sixth, a walk, hit-by-pitch and single loaded the bases for the Tide and pinch hitter Lauren Johnson came through with a single to drive in two, making it 6-3. Her older sister Jenna followed that up in the next at-bat with a three-run home run down the left field line to swell the lead to 9-3. The Wildcats got a run back in the bottom of the sixth with a sac fly RBI and started the bottom of the seventh with a walk and an error to put two in scoring position with nobody out. The Alabama defense and relief pitcher Alea Johnson buckled down, inducing a groundout, popup and strikeout to strand the runners and end the game.

The Tide's nine runs came on 11 hits, including three from Cahalan, which ties her career high for hits. Heivilin was 2-for-3 with two runs scored including her fifth home run of the season. Giles hit her second home run of the weekend, marking the second time this season she's homered in back-to-back games. Jenna Johnson's three-run homer was her fourth of the year and her four RBIs ties her previous career high set against Miami Ohio on March 6, 2022. After taking the loss in the circle yesterday, Kayla Beaver (11-3) bounced back with a win Friday over 6.0 innings pitched with Alea Johnson closing it out with a shutout seventh inning in relief.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy
"It was awesome to come back today with a performance like that after last night's performance. I'm really proud of the team. Offensively, one through nine had four at-bats each which means that they're getting on base, which is great. Lauren Johnson came through with a big pinch hit and her older sister [Jenna] came through even bigger behind her. Getting 11 hits on the road against a good SEC team isn't easy. We needed that. To keep the momentum going tomorrow, we need a good start in the circle and continue to pass the bats down offensively."

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