Alabama Softball defeated Florida State in Tallahassee.

After a rough SEC opener at home in which the Crimson Tide lost two of three to Florida, Alabama took a detour south to Tallahassee on their way to Athens, GA.

Alabama (21-3) got back to what brought them the best success early in the season. And that is scoring first, putting the opposing team behind the 8-ball. With two outs in the first inning, Abby Duchscherer crushed a ball over the center field wall. Red hot Marlie Giles followed with a double and Bailey Dowling singled her in for a 2-0 advantage.

In the 6th frame, the Tide cashed in on a walk to Jenna Johnson when Kali Heivilin hit an opposite field homer to give Alabama some cushion.

Kayla Beaver predictably got the start and worked 3.2 inning before being relieved by Alea Johnson after the wild pitch run (might have hurt her hand on the tag). Johnson, who baffled Seminoles batter with her change-ups and rise balls, pitched the final 3.1 innings and yielded only two singles and no runs to earn her third win of the season against no losses.

Well, The Gut® did it again, and, boy, is he sneaky. Remember in recent years when Murphy took teams on long ridiculous road trips that probably wore out his players and likely made some of them homesick resulting in losses to cupcakes? This time, he bussed the entire team down to lovely Dothan, AL, but at least it was only on a four-hour ride. This trek was meant to honor senior Jaala Torrence. And then it was a little under two more hours of a drive to the FSU campus.It’s good to win but the Crimson Tide squandered several opportunities to pad their lead. Bama had two base runners in the 2nd inning and loaded the bases in the 3rd with no outs but could not score. The leadoff hitter singled in the 4th but was left stranded. Bama put a leadoff hitter on in the 5th as well on a Giles hit by pitch, but again the following batters could not advance her.

The 7th inning was the only frame in which the Tide did not get a runner on base.All-ACC Kaley Mudge was 0 for 2 with a walk. Jaysoni Beachum,whose batting average is .467, went 0 for 3 with a strikeout. Preseason All-American Kalei Harding went 1-3 on a single and scored the only Noles run.“Duke” was 2-4 with a RBI and a run.Kristen White got two hits in three at bats in the ninth spot, but nobody could push her across home plate.The Tide had 9 hits, 3 walks, and a HBP – which is great – but they also left 8 runners on base.

This one could get dangerous. Georgia (21-3) has been pretty good thus far and they score a ton of runs. Sydney Kuma is hitting .431 while Justin Fields’s kid sister, Jaiden Fields, is at .357. Jayda Kearney already has 10 home runs.

Since ESPN is now calling the shots, Bama has a pair of 11am games on the slate.

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