Bama Central

Alabama Walks Off No. 17 Virginia Tech In Five Innings to Close Bama Bash

Larissa Preuitt provided the walk-off hit to end the Crimson Tide's first home weekend with a ranked win.

Katie Windham

Alabama softball
Alabama softball / Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama's offense exploded for 30 runs on Saturday and that momentum at the plate carried over into the first inning of Sunday's game against Virginia Tech.

Behind another onslaught at the plate and solid start from Jocelyn Briski, No. 21 Alabama picked up a much-needed ranked win over No. 17 Virginia Tech walking off the Hokies in a run-rule 9-1 victory to close out the weekend at the Bama Bash in Rhoads Stadium.

"If we pass the bat down like we did this weekend, it's going to be really fun to watch," Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said after the win.

The Crimson Tide held a 7-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, and needed two more runs for the walk-off victory. Marlie Giles reached with a leadoff walk, and Kristen White moved her into scoring position with a single. Two batters later, Larissa Preuitt drove both runners in for the run-rule.

Alabama struggled to get anything going off Virginia Tech pitcher Emma Lemley in Friday's 2-1 loss, but the Crimson Tide chased the Hokies' ace from the circle in the third inning after tagging her for five runs on six hits in 2.2 innings pitched.

The Tide jumped on the board in the first inning with RBI hits from Abby Duchscherer and Brooke Ellestad. It was the start of a three-hit day for Duchscherer. In the first inning, she crushed the first pitch she was off the left field wall for the RBI-double.

"Last year, I'd love to see that stat on this, but I swear Emma struck me out every time," Duchscherer said. "So this year, I had more redemption. I've seen her pitches, and I was just ready. It was more of like a revenge, like I'm gonna get you back because she got me last year. I'll give it to her. She's one of the best hitters I've ever faced. It was a revenge tour for me today."

Jocelyn Briski had one of her best starts of the season with just one earned run allowed in 4.2 innings pitched. She didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning. Catelyn Riley faced one batter in relief before the offense took care of the rest.

"Just throwing strikes," Briski said on what's working for her. "A big thing that I've kind of been struggling with this year is just walking batters. So just throwing strikes and making them hit my pitches, trusting the break and trusting the defense as well is something that I really focused on."

Alabama finished with 11 hits and improves to 10-6 on the season. After dropping the home opener on Friday against Virginia Tech, the Crimson Tide run-ruled the next four games with 48 total runs over the four games.

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Katie Windham
KATIE WINDHAM

Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports. 

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