The Alabama Crimson Tide ended their long streak of futility in the first round of NCAA Tournament, beating the California Golden Bears 1-0 thanks to their dominant pitching. Kelsi Dunne was dominant, displaying a nasty changeup that had Cal's hitters flustered all game long. It took her only 83 pitches to get through six innings of work, striking out 11 Golden Bears. After giving up a hit to Britt Vonk in the first inning, Dunne would only allow one walk and no hits the remainder of the game, Jackie Traina came in to close out the seventh, and it was as comfortable a 1-0 victory as you can possibly imagine for Alabama.
Jolene Henderson was impressive in defeat, striking out nine in six innings on 99 pitches while only allowing the one earned run. But Amanda Locke managed a huge single in the second inning, Keima Davis came in and stole second and third base, and Kaila Hunt put her home on a two-strike, two-out RBI single.
Alabama will move onto Friday night's game against the winner of Baylor-Oklahoma State. Cal faces the loser on Saturday morning to try and stay alive.
For more on the Tide, head to Roll Bama Roll. For more on the Bears, check out California Golden Blogs.