Bailey Hemphill hit 16th homer Saturday

Maybe it was a lonesome cowbell clanging from somewhere just outside the pay area at Rhoads Stadium. Perhaps it was a jaunty offering of “Yea, Alabama!” from Denny Chimes. In any event, something woke up those Alabama softball bats that had been far too quiet in recent days.

The Alabama of old, like a week ago, used a crescendo of three home runs to defeat Mississippi State, 8-2, on Saturday. That clinched the weekend series for Bama as the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide improved its record to 36-1 overall and 7-1 in Southeastern Conference games.

Coach Patrick Murphy’s Alabama hosts the Bulldogs (21-12, 1-7 SEC) in the final game of the three-game series at 1:30 p.m. CDT Sunday.

Alabama got home runs from junior Bailey Hemphill (16th of the year), senior Reagan Dykes (5th) and sophomore Maddie Morgan (3rd). å

Meanwhile, senior pitcher Courtney Geddins went 7 innings, allowing only one earned run, scattering seven hits, walking just one, and striking out four to improve her record to 5-0.

Mississippi State’s early 1-0 lead lasted only a few minutes as Bama home run hitters went to work in the bottom of the first inning to give the Tide a 4-1 lead. It was 5-2 after two innings, 7-2 after four, and 8-2 after six.

Hemphill was 2-for-4 with two RBI, soph KB Sides 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, Morgan 1-1 with two runs scored and an RBI, and Dykes 1-3 with a run scored and 2 RBI.

Mississippi State drew first blood with an error helping to load the bases with one out in the top of the first inning. A single by Montana Davidson drove in Mia Davidson to put Bama in an early hole.

The Tide found a way out.

With one out in the bottom of the first, Sides singled and Hemphill followed with a towering home run over the camera platform behind the center field fence. With two outs and a runner aboard, Dykes blasted one off the scoreboard behind the left field fence for the 4-1 lead.

Mississippi State got a run back with an RBI single in the top of the second but Alabama quickly took back the three-run lead, scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom half to make it 5-2.

Still 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth, Maddie Morgan drew a leadoff walk and freshman pinch-runner Kloyee Anderson stole second and third base before coming home on an RBI single from Sides. An errant throw on the play allowed Sides to move all the way to third base and then came home on a wild pitch, stretching the lead to 7-2.

Morgan made it an 8-2 game with a solo home run leading off the bottom of the sixth. Mississippi State got its first two batters on base in the top of the seventh, but Gettins and the Tide defense retired the next three straight to end the game and clinch the weekend series.