Alabama Softball Drops First Game of Season in 13-6 Loss to LSU

It was a disastrous day in the circle for the Crimson Tide with a season high in runs, hits and free passes allowed.

Any softball or baseball fan knows that leadoff walks often come back to bite you. Giving the other team a free pass is not an ideal way to start an inning or game.

Alabama starter Montana Fouts walked the first batter she faced in the Crimson Tide's SEC opener at LSU. While she was able to escape the first without allowing any runs, she and the rest of the pitching staff weren't as lucky in the following innings as the Tigers beat Alabama 13-6 in game one of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon. 

LSU had its leadoff runner reach base in the first five innings of the game, including the leadoff walk in the first. It was part of an offensive explosion for the Tigers and pitching implosion for Alabama. 

Coming into the matchup with a 20-0 record, the Alabama pitching staff had only given up 22 runs all season. The Tigers scored more than half of that total in game one alone. The Crimson Tide pitching staff gave up a season high in hits (15), runs (13) and walks (8) in the loss to LSU. 

Alabama took the initial lead on Jenna Johnson's first home run of the season in the top of the second, but the Tigers immediately reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the inning aided by four hits and a wild pitch to go up 3-1. 

After falling behind multiple times, the Alabama offense showed resilience with the bottom of the lineup stepping up. The Crimson Tide tied it at 3-3 in the third with Savannah Woodard's first home run and a sac fly from Ally Shipman before LSU added two more in the bottom of the inning to go up 5-3. 

Fouts exited in the third and was relieved by Jaala Torrence. The final line for Fouts was 90 pitches thrown in 2.2 innings with with six walks, five hits and five earned runs allowed. 

Johnson continued her hot hitting at the plate with a two-RBI single followed by an RBI hit from Megan Bloodworth that put Alabama up 6-5 in the fifth. It would be the last lead Alabama would hold as Torrence gave up six runs on seven hits in the bottom of the fifth for the Tigers to take a commanding 11-6 lead. The Tigers tacked on two more in the sixth on a home run from Georgia Clark.

LSU had six different players with multiple hits, while Johnson was the only player for Alabama to get more than one hit. She led the way with two hits and three RBIs. 

Alabama takes its first loss of the season and falls to 20-1 (0-1 SEC.) LSU improves to 18-6 (1-0 SEC.) Overall, it was not a good day in the circle or the field for the Crimson Tide, but head coach Patrick Murphy always likes to see how his team responds to adversity, and they will have the chance to do that in the final two games of the weekend series. 

It will be a quick turnaround for the Crimson Tide to shake this one off and learn how it will respond to its first loss. This was game one of a doubleheader between the Tide and Tigers with game two beginning approximately 30 minutes after the first.