Patrick Murphy breaks down Jaala Torrence's struggles vs. Tennessee

Heads were heavy for the Alabama Crimson Tide on Thursday afternoon. After suffering a heartbreaking 10-5 defeat to Tennessee in the first round of the Women’s College World Series, members of the team were left scratching their heads.

The most surprising part of the contest wasn’t the final score but instead Jaala Torrence’s performance. In just over two innings, the typically stellar junior pitcher gave up six runs. After the game, Alabama head coach struggled to explain Torrence’s showing.

“I’m not sure because I thought her velocity was really good at the beginning of the game,” Murphy said. “It was the two-out rally that killed us when we up there, as well, and in the SEC Tournament.”

Here's Jaala Torrence pic.twitter.com/gEbymOPRYg

— Tony Tsoukalas (@Tony_Tsoukalas) May 31, 2023

Murphy isn’t a stranger to Tennessee. His squad has faced off against the Volunteers four times this season, falling in three of the contests. Nonetheless, the loss on Thursday was different. It was a blowout.

Murphy sees a pattern in the shortcomings.

“They got a thing going there with two outs. We need to stop the bleeding. It happened to us up there in Fayetteville and happened to us again today,” Murphy said. “They got big hits on base.”

Before the loss on Thursday, Torrence had only given up two runs in the past 30 innings. In fairness, she wasn’t the only who struggled against the hard-hitting Volunteers. Alabama gave up another four runs after Torrence left the mound.

Alabama isn’t out of the fight yet. On Friday, the No. 5 seed Crimson Tide will square off against No. 9 seed Stanford. While Murphy couldn’t save his squad from a first-round loss, he knows what his team needs to succeed in the consolation bracket.

Chance to bounce back tomorrow💪#Team27 #RollTide #WCWS

— Alabama Softball (@AlabamaSB) June 1, 2023

“We have to play better defense. We have to get a better start from the starter. And, obviously, the third thing is to key hit and we need to do that early.”

Watch Alabama take on Stanford at 7 p.m. on Friday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.