CLEARWATER, Fla. – Alabama softball earned a pair of wins Thursday to open play at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational, defeating Liberty 7-1 before posting an 8-0 shutout in five innings over top-ranked Washington.

Seven different players in the Alabama (3-3) starting lineup earned a hit in a balanced 7-1 win over Liberty (1-5) to start the day before the Crimson Tide posted a convincing 8-0 five-inning shutout over top-ranked Washington (6-1) in the nightcap. The win over the Huskies is Alabama's first run-rule shutout over the top-ranked team in the country and its first shutout of No. 1 since the 2017 NCAA Regional round vs. Minnesota.

Tide pitching was stingy in the circle on Thursday, with senior Krystal Goodman (1-0) allowing just one run in the win over the Flames before freshman Lexi Kilfoyl (2-2) held the top-ranked Huskies scoreless on just one hit and two walks with six strikeouts. At the plate, sophomore Skylar Wallace paced the offense with a 4-for-7 day while juniors Kaylee Tow and KB Sides each had three hits, combining to score seven of the Tide's 15 runs. Freshman Abby Doerr made her Crimson Tide debut, blasting a home run against the Flames in her second career at-bat. Senior Bailey Hemphill sent one over the wall against the Huskies, pushing her career total to 49 which sits five shy of fourth-place Amanda Locke (2008-12).

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy

"What a great day for Crimson Tide softball on the biggest stage of the year thus far. Sometimes, a team needs a little more time to gel and come together. We still have a lot to work on. I'm really proud of both Krystal and Lexi for giving us great starts today. It starts in the circle, and they both shined."

Skylar Wallace tallies a pair of hits in the win, including a triple pic.twitter.com/475aWriHCB — Alabama Softball (@AlabamaSB) February 13, 2020

Highlights

vs. Liberty Four of Alabama's seven runs scored came with two outs Seven of the Tide's nine starting hitters earned a hit, and five scored at least one run Goodman's complete game is her first since game three of the LSU series on May 5, 2019 Doerr made her Crimson Tide debut, smashing a two-run home run in her second at-bat

vs. Washington The win marks Alabama's first run-rule shutout over the No. 1 team in the country, and its first shutout over a top-ranked team since blanking Minnesota in the 2017 NCAA Regional round when the Gophers led the NFCA poll Kilfoyl retired the first 11 batters she faced until a two-out walk in the fourth inning broke up her perfect game and a single in the next at-bat ended the no-hit bid Eight of Alabama's starters reached base at least once, including multi-hit performances from Tow, Wallace and Sides Hemphill, Sides and Kilfoyl each drove in two RBIs



A one-hit shutout? Over the No. 1 ranked team in the country? In front of your hometown fans? Not too shabby ?????? pic.twitter.com/9KWWWWIDr5 — Alabama Softball (@AlabamaSB) February 13, 2020

Scoring Summary

vs. Liberty T1st | Hemphill slugged a hard-hit single off the wall in center field, scoring senior Alexis Mack from second (Alabama 1, Liberty 0) B2nd | A two-out double followed by an RBI single tied the game (Alabama 1, Liberty 1) T4th | Doerr crushed a two-run home run down the right field line (Alabama 3, Liberty 1) T5th | Mack laid down a bunt single, hustled all the way to third on a throwing error and then came home on an RBI sac fly from junior Kaylee Tow (Alabama 4, Liberty 1) T5th | With runners at the corners and two out, senior Taylor Clark got caught in a rundown between first and second but sophomore Skylar Wallace hustled home from third before the tag to add a run (Alabama 5, Liberty 1) T6th | Freshman Savannah Woodard knocked a two-out RBI single up the middle, scoring Sides from third (Alabama 6, Liberty 1) T7th | Freshman Jenna Johnson drove in Tow from third on an RBI groundout (Alabama 7, Liberty 1)

vs. Washington B1st | Wallace dropped an RBI single into left field to score Tow from second (Alabama 1, Washington 0) B3rd | Hemphill slugged a two-run home run to left field (Alabama 3, Washington 0) B3rd | With two outs and the bases loaded, Kilfoyl drew a walk to move everyone up 60 feet and tack on a run (Alabama 4, Washington 0) B4th | Sides laced a two-run double into the left field gap, driving in Wallace and Tow (Alabama 6, Washington 0) B5th | Kilfoyl helped her own cause with an RBI triple into the right field corner (Alabama 7, Washington 0) B5th | Clark, pinch-running at third after Kilfoyl's triple, came home on a wild pitch to cap the run-rule victory (Alabama 8, Washington 0)



Up Next

Alabama continues play at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational with a pair of games on Friday, facing USF (9:30 a.m. CT) and third-ranked UCLA (3 p.m. CT).

For the latest information on the team, follow @AlabamaSB on Twitter, BamaSB on Instagram and Alabama Softball on Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.