No. 15 Alabama Softball Shuts Out Alabama State in Final Non-Conference Game

Three Crimson Tide pitchers combined for the shutout as reserve players combined for five RBIs in the 7-0 win in Montgomery on Tuesday night.

Alabama jumped out to an early lead in the first inning and never looked back in Tuesday night’s 7-0 win over Alabama State in Montgomery.

The No. 15 Crimson Tide (32-18) scored in four different innings capped by a solo home run by Alexis Pupillo in the seventh inning, and three pitchers combined for the shutout to complete the regular season sweep over the Hornets (15-32.)

Freshman pitcher Braya Hodges got her first career start in the circle and pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless ball with three walks and five strikeouts before getting relieved by Alea Johnson. The junior right-handed pitcher handled the next four innings, and Emily Winstead came in to get the final two outs.

Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy gave some players that have normally been utilized in backup roles this season the opportunity to start on Tuesday night, and they either drove in or scored six of the seven runs. True freshman Mari Hubbard got the scoring started with a 2-RBI triple in the top of the first inning.

The Crimson Tide added one in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from Salen Hawkins. The scored stayed at 3-0 for a while until Kendal Clark added some insurance runs in the sixth inning with a double to left field that drove in two runs to make it 6-0.

Pupillo’s pinch hit home run was the exclamation point on the night. Alabama finished the game with 10 hits.

With the win, Alabama has wrapped up non-conference play in the regular season. The Crimson Tide will be back home at Rhoads Stadium starting Friday for a three-game series with Missouri.