Tennessee softball stifles Alabama's comeback bid in Women's College World Series opener
OKLAHOMA CITY — Tennessee softball's offense jumped all over Alabama in the Lady Vols' first game at the 2023 Women's College World Series on Thursday.
No. 4 seed Tennessee opened play with a 10-5 win over No. 5 seed Alabama at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.
Two Lady Vols homered and eight scored runs in Tennessee's highest-scoring WCWS game. Alabama chipped away at the lead late, scoring three runs over the last three innings, but the result was never in jeopardy for Tennessee.
Tennessee remains unbeaten in this year's NCAA Tournament. It will face the winner of No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 9 Stanford on Saturday (3 p.m. ET, ABC).
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Jamison Brockenbrough and Rylie West homer in win
When Tennessee (50-8) came to bat in the bottom of the third, Alabama (45-21) had cut the Lady Vols' four-run lead in half.
Rylie West led off with a single. With one out, freshman Jamison Brockenbrough stepped to the plate.
Brockenbrough hit the first pitch she saw from Alabama's Jaala Torrence just over the center field wall for a two-run home run. Her second home run of the season restored Tennessee's four-run lead. It was her first homer since mid-March against LSU and a continuation of her postseason success: She improved to 6-for-19 (.315) in the NCAA Tournament, up from .260 before the tournament began.
West added a second Tennessee home run in the fourth inning. Her three-run shot was her fifth homer of the season and second of the NCAA Tournament.
All nine Tennessee hitters involved
Before the third inning was over, all nine of Tennessee's batters had reached base at least once. The Lady Vols strung together hits to make big innings, including a four-run second and four-run fourth.
Tennessee's first four runs all came with two outs: Giulia Koutsoyanopulos reached via error and Destiny Rodriguez singled to set up a two-out, two-run double by Katie Taylor. After an intentional walk to Kiki Milloy, Zaida Puni added another two-out, two-run double. Puni has 13 RBIs in the NCAA Tournament.
In the fourth, a leadoff single by Taylor and a walk to Puni set up another two-RBI double, this time by McKenna Gibson. West's home run came next, giving the Lady Vols and eight-run lead.
Tennessee pitching
Right-handed pitcher Ashley Rogers started in the circle for Tennessee. She got in some jams early but was able to get out of them, limiting the Crimson Tide offense enough to let Tennessee's bats maintain a lead. She threw four innings with three hits, two earned runs, three walks and a strikeout.
Right-hander Payton Gottshall started the fifth inning. She ceded back-to-back one-out singles and a two-out, two-run double by Kenleigh Cahalan that saved the Crimson Tide from a run-rule. In the sixth, she gave up a solo home run to pinch hitter Marlie Giles
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee softball's offense pops in WCWS win over Alabama
