MOBILE, Ala. – Alabama softball scored in four of the five innings it came to bat, including three home runs in the fourth, to secure a 15-3 road win Tuesday over South Alabama.

Alabama (20-7) plated three runs in the first inning without registering a hit, before South Alabama (11-15) answered with a run of its own in the bottom half. An RBI single in the third made it 4-1 and the Crimson Tide put the game out of reach with a seven-run fourth that included home runs from Alexis Pupillo, Kali Heivilin and Brooke Ellestad. After a Jaguar solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, Alabama responded with four more in the top of the fifth to make it 15-2. A one-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth brought in a late South Alabama run but a popup and strikeout ended the game in run-rule fashion, 15-3.

Pupillo and Ellestad each had two hits, with Pupillo driving in a season-best four RBIs while the game gives Ellestad a team-leading 10 multi-hit games this season. Kali Heiviln and Ellestad hit back-to-back home runs during the big fourth inning, the second time they’ve gone back-to-back in the last four games. Audrey Vandagriff had three stolen bases, pushing her NCAA-leading season total to 34 and putting her just six shy of cracking the UA single-season top 10. Jocelyn Briski (8-5) earned her seventh straight win in the circle, allowing one run on three hits in 3.0 innings pitched.

“Nineteen players saw time in the game, so it was a total team victory. I was really pleased with Briski’s start and Pupillo really got us going with that bomb and it really opened the floodgates from there. Our hitters were very patient, laying off bad pitches and waiting for hittable ones. The defense was good and both relief pitchers I thought did well behind Briski as well.”

Highlights

• Alabama improves to 16-2 all-time vs. South Alabama, including a 4-0 mark in Mobile
• The win pushes Patrick Murphy to 1,297 wins as head coach of the Crimson Tide
• The game was Alabama’s 10th run-rule win, its seventh with 10 or more runs scored and its third with three or more home runs
• Audrey Vandagriff had three stolen bases, improving her NCAA-leading total to 34 and putting her six shy of cracking the UA single-season top 10
• Vandagriff has reached base safely in 15 straight games
• Alexis Pupillo drove in a season-best four RBIs, going 2-for-2 with a double and home run for her eighth multi-hit game
• Kali Heivilin and Brooke Ellestad hit back-to-back home runs for the second time in the last four games
• Ellestad was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, including a solo home run, marking her team-leading 10th multi-hit game of the season
• The win was the seventh straight for Jocelyn Briski

Scoring Summary: Alabama 15, South Alabama 3

• T1 | Alexis Pupillo drew a bases-loaded walk (1-0, 0 Out)
• T1 | Catelyn Riley drew another bases-loaded walk behind Pupillo (2-0, 0 Out)
• T1 | Abby Duchscherer scored from third on a sac fly RBI (3-0, 0 Out)
• B1 | Sidney Lee hit an RBI single through the right side (3-1, 2 Out)
• T3 | Brooke Ellestad drove in a run with a bases-loaded single (4-1, 1 Out)
• T4 | Duchscherer hit a hard RBI single to third, driving in Audrey Vandagriff (5-1, 0 Out)
• T4 | Pupillo blasted a three-run home run to center field (8-1, 0 Out)
• T4 | Kali Heivilin hit a two-run home run over the scoreboard in left center (10-1, 0 Out)
• T4 | Ellestad followed Hevilin with a solo home run in the next at-bat (11-1, 0 Out)
• B4 | Lee led off the home half of the fourth with a solo home run (11-2, 0 Out)
• T5 | A dropped fly ball allowed two Tide runs to score (13-2, 1 Out)
• T5 | Salen Hawkins dropped an RBI single into shallow right (14-2, 1 Out)
• T5 | Kendal Clark scored on a sac fly RBI (15-2, 1 Out)
• B5 | Olivia Branstetter hit an RBI single up the middle (15-3, 1 Out)

Up Next: vs. #19/19 Mississippi State (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

• Friday, March 14 – 6 p.m. CT
• Saturday, March 15 – 2 p.m. CT
• Sunday, March 16 – 1:30 p.m. CT