With the loss, Patrick Murphy’s team has now lost their third straight series to begin SEC conference play.
No. 14 Alabama Softball (26-8, 3-6 SEC) suffered a crushing loss against Kentucky on Saturday in a thrilling game that went into extra innings. Rylea Smith’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the Wildcats a 4-3 victory.
Both teams displayed their defensive prowess to start the game, as the Crimson Tide and Wildcats kept one another off the scoreboard in the first inning. But Kentucky struck first in the bottom of the second inning, scoring a run early on when Erin Coffel took advantage of a fielding error by Abby Duchscherer to bring Hallie Mitchell home.
The Wildcats had a narrow lead until the top of the third inning, when Jenna Johnson tied the game at one with her second series home run to left field.
The Crimson Tide took the lead again in the top of the fourth inning when Stephanie Schoovner passed the ball and Marlie Giles scored, giving Alabama a 2-1 lead.
With two runs scored and one run batted in off Crimson Tide starter Kayla Beaver, Karissa Hamilton’s timely single put Kentucky ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning. But Alabama was not going to back down, and in the top of the seventh inning, Kenleigh Cahalan crushed a single through the right side to tie the game at three.
Extra innings were played since neither club was able to end the tie. With a double by Smith that drove in Alexia Lacatena for the walk-off win in the bottom of the eighth inning against Alabama pitcher Jocelyn Briski, Kentucky took advantage of the opportunity to win 4-3.
The Crimson Tide will have a short turnaround after their disheartening series defeat to Kentucky as they get ready to travel again, this time to Jacksonville, Alabama, where they will play Jacksonville State on Tuesday at 6:00 PM.
Timetable