Crimson Tide softball team can't complete sweep of Vols

TUSCALOOSA | As far as Patrick Murphy is concerned, two out of three isn’t so good.

Not when the head coach of the second-ranked University of Alabama softball team could taste a sweep of fourth-ranked Tennessee. Not when the Crimson Tide had beaten the Lady Vols twice by invoking the mercy rule, including a 13-2 bashing in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader at the Alabama Softball Complex. Not when UA outfielders had robbed Tennessee by snatching two home runs from over the wall and taken away two other extra-base hits with circus catches.

Allowing Tennessee to come from behind to win the finale 7-3 took a lot of the fun out of winning the series for Murphy, even with a near-record crowd of more than 2,200 on hand.

“It’s a loss after two run-rule victories,” Murphy said. “You don’t ever want to lose at home.”

The Tide had Tennessee on the ropes in the final game of the series, up 3-1 courtesy of an RBI single and a two-run home run from third baseman Kelley Montalvo. Then came the pivotal play, the one that allowed the left-for-dead Lady Vols to rally for a six-run outburst in the fifth inning to steal away a win.

With runners on first and second with one out, Tennessee’s Kenora Posey hit a grounder to second baseman Lauren Parker, who fielded the ball and swiped at base runner Kelly Grieve before throwing to first for a chance at a double play.

First base umpire James Martarona ruled Grieve safe at second while another runner motored all the way home for a run. Murphy argued passionately, but Martarona stuck with his call.

“She tagged her,” Murphy said. “[Martarona] said he didn’t see it that way. I tried to get thrown out. That was [a chance to get] out of the inning.”

Said Parker, “I tagged something. I don’t know what else I could have tagged.”

Tiffany Huff’s two-RBI double keyed Tennessee’s big inning, but Murphy was more concerned with what his pitchers didn’t do. Freshman Kelsey Dunne (8-2) didn’t make it out of the inning and senior Chrissy Owens gave up two RBI singles and allowed another run to score on a wild pitch before getting the final out of the inning.

“We needed something extra from our pitchers,” Murphy said. “We gave them three runs and made some highlight-reel catches and they didn’t really give anything back.”

The finale was a letdown because the two victories that preceded it were so devastatingly dominant for Alabama. The Tide topped Saturday’s 8-0, six-inning win by destroying the Lady Vols 13-2 in five innings in Sunday’s first game.

Senior outfielder Danni Woods hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning to give Alabama a 5-2 lead and the Tide put up eight more runs in the fourth, with freshman outfielder Whitney Larsen catapulting a grand slam some 275 feet over the scoreboard in left-center.

“Everybody else did their job to where I could do mine,” Larsen. “The grand slam felt really good.”

Woods hadn’t felt such a surge of momentum in a game against a highly ranked opponent in her entire career.

“That was unbelievable,” she said. “It seemed like we were getting all the calls and we were crushing everything. We got great pitching and great defense.”

Murphy was impressed with the shock-and-awe display.

“It was fun to watch for sure,” he said. “The defense and timely hitting, I think it showed everybody what we’re capable of.”

Owens (7-0) held Tennessee to one earned run on eight hits with seven strikeouts for the win. Rhodes (9-1) gave up 10 runs on eight hits.

Tennessee coach Ralph Weekly was pleased to salvage a win.

“Especially after getting spanked for two games,” he said. “I just think they’re really good.”

Alabama will host fifth-ranked Florida in a doubleheader on Wednesday starting at 5 p.m.