Tennessee offense overwhelms Alabama softball in WCWS opener
OKLAHOMA CITY − The Alabama softball team got off to a rough start at the Women's College World Series on Thursday, dropping its opening game 10-5 to SEC rival Tennessee. The Volunteers got to UA pitcher Jaala Torrence for six runs by the third inning to continue on in the winners bracket. The Crimson Tide now falls to the losers bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will face the loser of Thursday's Oklahoma-Stanford game on Friday night.
A few observations from the Crimson Tide's first game at the 2023 WCWS:
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Two-out damage
Tennessee's offense, simply put, was clutch. With two outs in the second inning, the Volunteers got a two-run double from the last hitter in the lineup, Katie Taylor, for a 2-0 lead. After an intentional walk, the Lady Vols struck with two outs again off Torrence, on a two-run double by Zaida Puni, a roaring gapper that clipped the tip of centerfielder Kristen White's glove. The Lady Vols tacked on even more two-out scoring in the fourth with McKenna Gibson's RBI double and Rylie West's three-run homer.
Coming to life
The Crimson Tide offense, which has struggled for production at times this season, came to life against one of the nation's best pitching duos in Tennessee's Ashley Rogers and Payton Gottshall. UA came up with seven hits and three walks against the Lady Vols, but could not bring enough of them home to keep up with UT's torrid scoring. Nevertheless, Alabama got to Rogers for three hits and three walks over four innings, then scored late against Gottshall with Kenleigh Cahalan's two-run double and a solo home run by Marlie Giles. UA struck out only twice on the day.
Quirky play
Alabama's Kenleigh Cahalan came through a most unlikely RBI in the third inning, hitting what looked like a harmless ground ball to first base, only to watch it strike the edge of the bag and pop about 10 feet in the air in front of UT first baseman McKenna Gibson. The carom was just high enough for Calahan to scoot by for an RBI infield single, scoring Bailey Dowling, and narrowing the UT lead to 4-2.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23 and the Talkin' Tide podcast. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Tennessee offense overwhelms Alabama softball in WCWS opener
