No. 1 Texas Dominates No. 5 Alabama Softball in Game 1

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— For the first time this year, Alabama got punched in the mouth in the opening game of a series.

No. 1 Texas jumped out to a five-run lead on the way to a 9-1 win over the Crimson Tide to take Game 1 of the top-five series at Rhoads Stadium on Thursday night. The Longhorns are the top-ranked team in the nation and defending national champions and fully looked the part against the Tide.

"You get punched in the face, and what are you going to do about it?" Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said after the game. "We need to be better all the way around. We need to get a better start. We need obviously better at-bats throughout the lineup and just battle our butts off because that really wasn't us tonight, and that's a good team."

Alabama (33-3, 7-3 SEC) starter Jocelyn Briski was chased in the fourth inning after allowing five earned runs, picking up her first loss of the season. She had previously not allowed more than three earned runs in any start this year. Murphy said Briski has "battled through a couple things this week" in the leadup to the Texas series.

"Everybody has their down nights, and she hasn't had one all year," Alabama catcher Marlie Giles said of Briski. "So I think she's allowed to have one down day. She's going to come back the next time she pitches, and she's going to just do like she always does and give it her all."

Texas (32-2) got the scoring started early and kept adding on.

Vivianna Martinez hit a solo home run in the first inning for the Longhorns. Leighann Goode increased the Texas lead with a two-run home run in the third inning. Briski has been so good at limiting free passes this season but started off the fourth inning with a leadoff walk, and the Longhorns made her pay, scoring two more runs in the inning.

The early runs for the Longhorns seemed to suck the energy out of the largest home crowd of the season for the Crimson Tide with more than 3500 people in attendance. Alabama had a chance to answer with two runners on and one out in the second inning, but Salen Hawkins hit into a double play that erased any threat.

Freshman Kaitlyn Pallozzi pitched the remaining four innings for the Crimson Tide after Briski's exit. She allowed four earned runs.

Alabama sparked some life into the crowd in the bottom of the fourth inning with a small rally and an RBI single from Giles that got the Tide on the board and cut the Texas lead to 5-1. But the Longhorns immediately got that run back when Goode led off the fifth inning with her second home run of the game.

Goode wasn't done quite yet, picking up her fourth RBI of the day on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. The Longhorns added another run with an RBI double from Martinez. Alabama held Texas' potent lineup duo of Reese Atwood and Katie Stewart hitless all game until Stewart led off the seventh inning with her 18th home run of the year.

Alabama only managed one run and five hits off Texas starter Teagan Kavan, who pitched a complete game for the Longhorns. Alexis Pupillo was the only Tide player to manage multiple hits and scored Alabama's lone run. Kavan struck out nine batters, a new season high for the Alabama offense.

"We can't go three up, three down in half the innings," Murphy said. "That's way too easy for their defense. We have to make the pitcher work a little harder. We have to make the defense work. [There was] absolutely no pressure whatsoever except for maybe two innings the entire game, and one inning scored and one we hit into a double play. We've got to have better at-bats because if they're going to score in six of the seven innings, guess what? So do we."

The Crimson Tide will have the opportunity to respond at home on Friday in what is expected to be another large crowd at Rhoads Stadium. First pitch for Game 2 is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

"We need to do a better job of getting them off their feet," Murphy said of the crowd. "They're ready to explode. You can feel it, but we've gotta give them something to yell about."

This story will be updated with quotes and video.

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