Alabama's Jaala Torrence Tosses No-Hitter, Montana Fouts Strikes Out 12 in Softball Sweep
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A switch turned on for Jaala Torrence.
The Crimson Tide junior pitcher was roughed up in her last outing last week in a 5-3 loss to Kennesaw State in the Bama Bash.
Fast forward to Saturday in the Crimson Classic, and Torrence was unhittable. Literally.
Torrence pitched her first no-hitter and the program's 42nd overall in Alabama's 10-0 win in five innings over Robert Morris at Rhoads Stadium.
"It was so great," Torrence said. "I absolutely love my team. They made me feel so special. My defense was firing me up. The defense was making plays and the offense was having a day. It all pieced together perfectly."
Alabama continued the domination the second game, a 5-0 win against Longwood. Montana Fouts struck out 12 and gave up just three hits in the shutout.
For Torrence, it was particularly special because of the work she put in following the disappointing outing against Kennesaw State last week.
Torrence and the rest of the pitching staff got in some quality work with pitching coach Lance McMahon, and the results were evident.
"The whole bullpen came into this weekend with an attack mentality," Torrence said. "We just talked about what we need to work on personally and then we worked on them. Today we had the goal to execute and we did."
Torrence was nearly perfect in her five innings. The only blight on her performance was a third-inning walk. Other than that she was perfect.
"It's all mentality. I've had goals I've been working on these past few days, and I just wanted to come out with the will and intention to attack batters and make pitches," Torrence said.
The offense helped out Torrence with an eight-run fourth inning. Kenleigh Cahalan led the charge in the inning with a home run and a single. She ended the game with two hits, two RBIs and a run scored.
Bailey Dowling drove in three runs with a pinch-hit home run in the big eighth inning and Lauren Esman had a two-run single to pad the lead.
Fouts stepped in the circle in Game 2 against Longwood and pitched a complete-game shutout. Alabama has not allowed a run in 26 consecutive innings.
In that stretch, opponents have just seven hits, and Alabama pitchers have recorded 37 strikeouts.
"College softball has evolved into an offensive game over the last 10 years," Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said. "Anytime you get a shutout it's a hell of a feat."
Any idea of a repeat no-hitter was quickly dashed as Fouts allowed a leadoff single. She gave up just two other hits, including one that was lost in the sun by right fielder Larissa Preuitt.
"We know at practice at this time of the day it is treacherous out there," Murphy said.
One Longwood hitter reached third base.
The Alabama offense relied on some Longwood errors to score two runs in the fourth inning. Also in the fourth, Cahalan had a two-run single. Dowling drove in a run with a sac fly in the fifth.
Alabama (15-3) takes on Longwood again on Sunday at 11:15 a.m. and Mercer at 1:45 p.m. at Rhoads Stadium to close out the Crimson Classic.
