Ally Shipman leads No. 3 Alabama Softball to Series-Opening Win over No. 8 Kentucky

The senior went 1-for-2 with three runs batted in while delivering the eventual game-winning hit in the bottom of the fifth inning.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It wasn’t a must-win game. Those don’t occur in March, especially not for teams with just three losses. Nevertheless, No. 3 Alabama softball was desperate to get back on the right track against No. 8 Kentucky on Friday night.

Ally Shipman made sure the Crimson Tide did just, tallying three runs batted in while delivering the eventual game-winning hit to lead Alabama to a 4-2 victory inside of Rhoads Stadium.

Shipman’s heroics came in the bottom of the fifth as she stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and Alabama trailing 2-1. The senior proceeded to rip a two-run double to left, giving the Crimson Tide the lead. Shipman finished the night 1-for-2 while also providing a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first. 

"She gets the first RBI in almost every game we play," Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said. "That's one of the things we try to pride our things on, get the first RBI. It seems like she's probably done it half the year." 

Following Shipman's go-ahead double in the fifth, Kaylee Tow added an RBI single to extend Alabama's lead to 4-2. The rally turned around what was shaping up to be a frustrating night at the plate as the Crimson Tide failed to capitalize early despite hitting the ball hard against the Wildcats. 

"When you're hitting the ball and it's just going straight at people, you've just got to fight through that," Shipman said. "We knew eventually that we were going to push through, and we were going to get runs across the board, so we just kept fighting through that."

The three-run fifth inning proved more than enough for Montana Fouts, who improved to 13-0 on the season with a complete game in the circle. The senior struck out 10 batters while allowing four hits and one earned run over seven innings. Alexia Lacatena (5-1) took the loss for Kentucky, giving up three runs on six hits over 41/3 innings. 

"Kentucky has seen [Fouts] for four years, so that's a hell of an accomplishment for a kid to strike out 10 and only give up two runs," Murphy said. "I was really pleased with her performance."

After starting its season with 20 straight wins, Alabama dropped its SEC-opening series at then-No. 21 LSU last weekend before suffering another loss to No. 2 Florida State on Wednesday. Friday’s win moved the Crimson Tide (23-3, 2-2 in the SEC) back to .500 in conference play while giving it much-needed momentum heading into a challenging weekend series against a top-10 opponent.

"It's going to happen," Fouts said of Alabama's mini-slump over the last week. "I mean great teams lose, the best teams lose. We can learn from failure. We just took those losses and learned from them." 

The game served as the SEC-opener for Kentucky (19-4, 0-1) which had its conference open week last weekend. The Crimson Tide and Wildcats will play again on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT before wrapping up the series on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Alabama jumped out to an early lead Friday as Ashley Prange tripled to right-center field in the bottom of the first inning before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Shipman.

Kentucky answered back with runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the third as Erin Coffel laced a two-out single to right field, scoring Rylea Smith from second base. After corralling a throw from right fielder Savannah Woodward, Prange then handed the Wildcats the lead as she hit the second-base umpire while trying to throw out an advancing Coffel. That allowed Lauren Johnson to score the go-ahead run for Kentucky.

Frustration ensued for Alabama in the bottom of the third. Following a leadoff single from Dallis Goodnight, Jenna Johnson fouled into a double play as Kentucky catcher Kayla Kowalik caught a pop-up near the netting before firing it to second to gun down Goodnight trying to tag up and advance to second. The Crimson Tide paid for the base-running decision as Prange then doubled to right on a ball that would have likely scored Goodnight from first before Shipman ended the inning with a groundout.

"Being Murphy's always feel like in games like that when we hit the ball hard and can't capitalize on it, I'm like oh God, we're going to waste those good shots," Murphy said. "The other side of that is when other pitcher gets ta little more confident when they get those breaks. That always worries."

Fortunately for Alabama, Shipman’s clutch hitting helped atone for the team's misfortunes two innings later. Fouts also did a nice rebounding, retiring her final 13 batters after giving up the lead in the third.

"Our team is so good, and we have the best fans in the country," Fouts said. "I knew we were going to come back. I just wasn't going to let them have another chance."