Riley Valentine gives Alabama early lead over Tennessee with 1st-inning grand slam in Super Regional
It’s a winner-take-all affair in Knoxville on Sunday. Alabama forced an if-necessary game in Saturday’s 14-inning Super Regional thriller against Tennessee, and the Crimson Tide got a big swing early.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the first inning, Riley Valentine stepped to the plate and hit one over the left field fence for a grand slam. Just like that, Alabama had a 4-0 lead before Tennessee could grab a bat. A weather delay then started during the break, meaning the Volunteers have to wait even longer to step to the plate.
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Per NCAA rules, a lightning strike means teams have to wait at least 30 minutes before resuming. Tennessee later announced the earliest restart time would be 7 p.m. ET as weather continues to move into the area, and officials would reassess around 6:30 p.m. ET.
Alabama, Tennessee coming off 14-inning thriller
Saturday’s game was one of the craziest in recent memory as Alabama and Tennessee went 14 innings before someone scored to break the tie. It was the longest NCAA Tournament game between two SEC opponents in history.
Kristen White came up with the clutch hit with the bases loaded and nobody out, giving Alabama the 3-2 victory and forcing a decisive Game 3 on Sunday with a trip to Oklahoma City on the line.
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The game got off to an exciting start. Alabama scored in the bottom of the first, but Tennessee answered back with an RBI single from Laura Mealer to make it 1-1. That score held until the fourth inning when Sophia Nugent hit a solo home run to put the Lady Vols on top, but Bailey Dowling answered with a solo shot of her own in the bottom half to knot it back up at 2-2.
For 10 innings, that was the score, despite multiple opportunities for both teams.
All told, Tennessee left 18 runners on base, including the bases loaded in the top of the 10th. Alabama left 10 runners on base in the game, but managed to capitalize in the 14th to finally end things and keep the season going for at least one more game.
Jocelyn Briski started the game for Alabama and threw four innings before Kayla Beaver came in and held Tennessee scoreless over her 10 innings of work, throwing 165 pitches during that time. On the Lady Vols side, Payton Gottshall went 3.2 innings to start, and Karlyn Pickens finished the final 9.1 innings – only allowing the RBI single to White in the 14th inning as her lone blemish on the scorecard.