KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A solo home run by Bailey Hemphill in the 10th inning Thursday lifted the No. 5 seed and No. 15 Alabama softball team to a 2-1 victory against No. 4 seed and No. 11 Texas A&M in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference at Sherri Lee Parker Field.
Alabama (42-15) held Texas A&M (42-10) hitless through seven innings before a solo home run by Tori Vidales tied it in the bottom of the seventh. After two more scoreless innings, Hemphill blasted a two-strike pitch over the fence in center field to give the Crimson Tide the lead. The 10-inning game is tied for the longest game in SEC tournament history by innings.
Alexis Osorio (21-7) went a career-high 10 innings and limited the SEC’s leading power team to two hits. She struck out a SEC tournament single-game record 15.
Alabama took a 1-0 lead on a single by Marisa Runyon in the top of the third.
Elissa Brown went 2-for-4 to extend her hitting streak to six games and her reached-base streak to 16 games.
Osorio faced the minimum until the bottom of the fifth when Ashley Walters drew a one-out walk for the Aggies’ first baserunner. The threat was erased quickly as a 6-4-3 double play ended the inning and sent it to the sixth with the score still 1-0. Texas A&M got a runner on again in the bottom of the sixth but, after a strikeout, Dykes fired down to Sydney Booker covering second to catch the runner stealing for out number two of the inning. A two-out walk put the potential tying run on base again but Osorio’s ninth strikeout of the day ended the inning and kept it a one-run lead for Alabama.
After two quick outs in the top of the seventh, Samantha Show entered to pitch for the Aggies. A four-pitch walk put Brown at first and she stole second but was left stranded as a strikeout ended the inning with Alabama unable to add to its 1-0 lead. Vidales tied the game with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
Alabama will play Ole Miss (38-18) in the semifinals at 2 p.m. today (ESPNU).
n Auburn 2, Kentucky 0: the No. 2 seed and No. 7 Tigers advanced to the semifinals for the third-straight year by shutting out the No. 7 seed and No. 18 Wildcats.
Kendall Veach’s two-run home run to right-center field in the bottom of the sixth inning accounted for the scoring. It was Veach’s 12th home run on the season, which is tied for third most in the SEC.
“It felt really good,” Veach said. “I was just looking for a pitch away from me, and she gave it to me. I was just wanting to put the barrel on the ball, so that’s what I did.”
Auburn coach Clint Myers wasn’t satisfied with his team’s offensive performance.
“We only got three hits,” Myers said. “We got to do a lot better job if we’re going to make history. We won. That’s the bottom line. That’s one thing about this team, they figure out ways to win. It’s a different hero each night, tonight it was Kendall Veach.”
Auburn right-hander Kaylee Carlson (26-3) pitched a complete-game shutout, her sixth of the year. Carlson’s 26 wins leads all SEC pitchers.
“She’s just a tough kid, very smart,” Myers said. “She’s a competitor, she loves to win and if you ask her what’s fun, she’ll say winning is fun and that’s what you want in the circle.”
Auburn will face No. 6 seed LSU today in the semifinals.
n LSU 6, Tennessee 2: Bailey Landry went 3-for-4 with an RBI and scored two runs to lead the No. 6 seed and No. 21 Tigers past the No. 3 seed and No. 9 Volunteers.
LSU scored six unanswered runs in a rally that started in the fourth inning.
LSU is 10-1 when playing in Tennessee in the SEC tournament. The Tigers went on to win back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002 when the tournament was hosted in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
This is the fifth-consecutive year that the SEC tournament host team didn’t advance past its first game.
LSU right-hander Allie Walljasper (15-4) pitched her second complete game against Tennessee this season.
This is the 14th semifinal appearance for LSU, second most in the SEC.
LSU will face Auburn in a rematch of the 2016 SEC Championship game. That game will start approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the game between Alabama and Ole Miss.
Sun Belt Conference
n Louisiana 6, South Alabama 0: At Troy, Alabama, Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year DJ Sanders went 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI to lead the top-seeded and No. 14 Ragin’ Cajuns (43-6) to their victory in the second round of the league tournament.
Louisiana will play Texas State at 10 a.m. today in the winners’ bracket.
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