Owens one batter short of perfect game at Samford

BIRMINGHAM | University of Alabama senior pitcher Chrissy Owens finished one batter short of a perfect game Wednesday night as the Crimson Tide softball team shut out Samford 4-0 in front of 712 fans at Bulldog Park.

Owens had two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the seventh inning before Aaren Fisher laced a double under the glove of a diving Brittany Rogers in left-center field.

Prior to that hit, Owens (10-0) had retired the first 20 hitters she had faced. Owens reached a three-ball count only once the entire night while facing just four two-ball counts.

“Chrissy was unbelievable tonight,” Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said. “It was hard to see that hit fall in with two outs in the seventh inning because it was really the only ball Samford hit hard all night and it was just out of Brittany’s reach in left-center field. Chrissy hit every spot tonight, and it was really good to see her turn in such an commanding performance with LSU coming up this weekend.”

Charlotte Morgan paced the Tide’s offense with two hits, while Dani Woods came through with two RBI.

Samford hurler Amanda Barrs (2-5) took the loss and combined with reliever Margaret Carter to hold an Alabama squad that was averaging 7.5 runs per game to four on Wednesday night.

The Tide jumped on top early on Woods’ two-out RBI single up the middle, scoring Jordan Praytor, who drew a one-out walk.

Alabama got the bats going again in the fourth inning, but it took a little help from Samford to plate any runs. With one out and the bases loaded, freshman Whitney Larsen hit a sharp ground ball to third that was fielded and brought home to cut down Kelley Montalvo for the second out of the inning.

Samford catcher Tracey Deaux then threw back to third base trying to complete the double play, but threw wildly into left field to plate to UA runs.

UA extended the lead to 4-0 in the fifth inning on Woods’ second RBI of the evening on a sacrifice fly to center field.

The Crimson Tide returns home this weekend for a Southeastern Conference Western Division clash at the Alabama Softball Complex with No. 10 LSU. The series opens Saturday at 1 p.m., with a doubleheader on Sunday, April 6, at 1:30 p.m.

The first 400 fans through the gates on Saturday vs. LSU will receive a free pair of Crocs. On Sunday, bring three canned goods for donation to the West Alabama Food Bank and receive an Alabama softball visor, while supplies last.