TROY, Ala. – The sixth-ranked Alabama softball team closed out an undefeated weekend at the Troy Subway Invitational with a 7-1 win over Troy on Sunday afternoon. For their efforts over the weekend, Haylie McCleney and Danae Hays were named to the All-Tournament team and Leslie Jury was named the Tournament MVP.
Alabama (5-0) closed its weekend with another well-rounded performance, out-hitting the Trojans 8-3 led by Hays’ three RBI performance. Jaclyn Traina (2-0) went the distance allowing three hits and one run, unearned, with 14 strikeouts. It’s her highest strikeout total since throwing 14 against Georgia Southern on Feb. 16, 2013.
Troy (2-2-1) takes its second loss of the year while starter Jaycee Affeldt (1-1) takes the loss in the circle.
Kallie Case got the first hit of the day for either team, dropping a double in between three Trojans in shallow center to lead off the top of the third. Later in the inning with Case on third and Haylie McCleney on second, Danielle Richard knocked a hard single into left to drive in a pair and Danae Hays followed that with a two-run homer to left field to put the Tide ahead 4-0.
Troy scored its first run of the day in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double to the left-center wall by Michelle Phelps. She would advance to third on an illegal pitch but Traina’s 10th strikeout of the day would end the inning and leave her 60 feet away as Alabama now held a 4-1 lead.
Hays’ third RBI of the day came on a sacrifice fly with one away in the fifth, stretching the Tide’s lead to 5-1. In the top of the sixth, pinch-runner Chandler Dare stole second and back-to-back throwing errors allowed her to come home on the same play to make it 6-1. Leona Lafaele added another run in the top of the seventh with an RBI single. Traina shut down the Trojans in the bottom-half of the inning to secure the 7-1 victory.
Alabama continues the 2014 season next weekend at the Hillenbrand Invitational in Tucson, Ariz., hosted by the University of Arizona. There, the Tide will play five games over three days beginning on Friday, Feb. 14 against Grand Canyon at 2 p.m. CT.
