TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama softball concluded its fall slate on Saturday with a 10.0 inning game against Mercer, defeating the Bears 17-2.

FROM HEAD COACH PATRICK MURPHY

“I’d like to thank our booster club and all the fans for coming out all fall. We had some great fan support every game and we were fortunate to have some great weather too. We’ve progressed very nicely over the fall. We have five pitchers and we can rely on all of them. This is the fastest team we’ve ever had, there are athletes all over the field. With 11 green light girls, if they get on base then we’re going to run with them. I think it was a fun fall. They’re a great group to coach, they work really hard and have great attitudes. Now [strength and conditioning coach] Michelle Diltz has them for around a month to get everyone a little stronger in the weight room before they head home for break.”

HIGHLIGHTS

• Salen Hawkins continued her stellar fall, going 2-for-3 including a two-run home run
• Freshman Ambrey Taylor had a team-leading three RBIs coming on a sac fly, RBI single and RBI double
• Eleven different players drove in at least one RBI Saturday, with multi-RBI games from Hawkins, Taylor, Lauren Johnson and Mari Hubbard
• The freshman duo of Kaitlyn Pallozzi and Vic Moten split pitching duties in the game, combining for 13 strikeouts and just two runs allowed on seven hits over 10.0 innings pitched

SCORING SUMMARY

• B1 | Salen Hawkins hit a two-run home run to left field (2-0, 1 Out)
• B2 | Alexis Pupillo scored from third on a sac fly (3-0, 1 Out)
• B3 | Brooke Wells drove in Hawkins from second with an RBI single (4-0, 0 Out)
• B3 | Pupillo hit an RBI single to center field (5-0, 1 Out)
• B3 | Jena Young flared an RBI single to left center (6-0, 1 Out)
• B3 | Pupillo scored from third on an RBI groundout (7-0, 1 Out)
• B3 | Lauren Johnson drove in two with a double to the wall and came around to score on the same play on an error (10-0, 1 Out)
• B4 | Larissa Preuitt scored on a sac fly RBI from Abby Duchscherer (11-0 1 Out)
• T5 | Mercer got on the board with an RBI double (11-1, 1 Out)
• B5 | Kristen White scored on a sac fly (12-1, 0 Out)
• B6 | Preuitt came home on an RBI groundout (13-1, 0 Out)
• B6 | Ambrey Taylor drove in a run with a double to center (14-1, 2 Out)
• T9 | A Mercer run came home on a wild pitch (14-2, 2 Out)
• B9 | Mari Hubbard drove in Pupillo with an RBI single to right (15-2, 1 Out)
• B9 | Preuitt scored on another RBI groundout (16-2, 1 Out)
• B9 | Taylor hit an RBI single to center (17-2, 2 Out)