Texas steals emotionally charged win over Alabama after teammate's 'horrific' injury

Alabama sophomore Kaylee Tow (12) swings at a pitch in front of Texas catcher Mary Iakopo during Friday’s 7-5 loss to the Longhorns in Game 2 of the Tuscaloosa Super Regional on May 24, 2019 from Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa. (Photo by Robert Sutton/Alabama athletics)

TUSCALOOSA — Mary Iakopo’s thoughts and prayers were understandably with injured teammate Miranda Elish, who spent much of Friday night’s game in a nearby hospital bed after taking a hard throw from Iakopo to the face in the second inning.

But it was with her bat that Iakopo made amends, sparking No. 9 Texas to an emotionally-charged 7-5 win over eighth-seeded Alabama with a three-run home run in the third inning of Game 2 to even the best-of-three Tuscaloosa Super Regional series inside a packed Rhoads Stadium on Friday.

“I was thinking about Miranda the whole time, but I had two strikes on me and was just trying to stay alive,” Iakopo said of her home run, calling it “a gamechanger.” “We just flipped the switch and we knew we were in the ball game.”

Added Texas right fielder MK Tedder, who led off a four-run fourth inning with a solo home run off Alabama freshman ace Montana Fouts: “We definitely said that (Elish) was our motivation, we came together and a couple of us prayed (after her injury). … We definitely took what happened (as inspiration) to make sure we were doing it for her.”

Elish was doing well and in good spirits Friday, according to Texas head coach Mike White, but will be out for the remainder of the Super Regionals and possibly longer after taking an unobstructed blow to the face from a thrown ball, which hit between her nose and left cheek bone.

“It’s just preliminary right now, but she is doing well,” White said. “Obviously she’s out for the weekend, there’s no doubt about that. But at least she’s in good spirits. … It did hit her flush, it was a pretty horrific thing. But it could’ve been a lot worse. We just prayed to God that she was OK.”

The injury happened after Iakopo fielded a one-out bunt by Alabama’s Elissa Brown just past the batter’s box and instinctively threw to second base to force out advancing base runner Merris Schroder.

Instead, Iakopo’s throw up the middle hit an unsuspecting Elish in the pitcher’s circle, sending her to ground in obvious pain. Unbeknownst to Iakopo, Brown was ruled out of the box and the play was signaled dead before her throw, deeming it unnecessary.

“I was just looking to get the lead out,” Iakopo said of her throw, “… so I was headed to second, and it was a dead ball, I shouldn’t have thrown it, but Shea came in big, so no harm no foul.”

Elish, who doesn’t wear a protective mask and had no opportunity to react before the ball hit her, remained on the ground for several minutes while coaches and trainers attended to her before being helped off the field and eventually taken by ambulance to nearby hospital as a precaution, according to a team spokesman.

Elish is expected to see a facial surgeon to determine if further action is necessary, according to White, and the team is making plans to secure ground transportation back to Austin if she’s unable to fly back with the team for any reason.

Alabama (56-8) and Texas (46-16) will play a winner-takes-all Game 3 of the Tuscaloosa Super Regional at 1 p.m. Saturday for a chance to make next week’s Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

“The good thing is we have another game, and we’re home, and we’re the home team,” Crimson Tide head coach Patrick Murphy said. “So that’s the best part, and hopefully we’ll have the crowd behind us again. For whatever reason it did feel like (we were) deflated, I don’t know how to describe it. … Then it kind of got out of hand a little bit.”

Alabama freshman Montana Fouts (14) delivers a pitch during Friday’s 7-5 loss to the Longhorns in Game 2 of the Tuscaloosa Super Regional on May 24, 2019 from Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa. (Photo by Robert Sutton/Alabama athletics)

Iakopo’s three-run home run in the third completely shifted the game’s momentum in the Longhorns’ favor after the No. 5 Crimson Tide jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first two innings against Elish, who pitched took Thursday night’s 3-0 loss with four innings of work in Game 1.

Texas scored all seven of its runs between the third and fourth innings Friday, while freshman Shealyn O’Leary came on in relief of Elish and shut Alabama’s potent offense down, allowing just one run on two hits over the final 5 1/3 innings, including sending down the last seven straight Tide batters following a solo home run from junior Bailey Hemphill in the top of the fifth inning.

“I think (O’Leary) mixed speeds more effectively than Elish, she threw her offspeed, her change-up more often, kind of kept us on our toes,” Hemphill said. “But we’re going to make the adjustments tomorrow and be ready for it.”

Alabama jumped on Elish right away, loading the bases with one out in the top of the first inning before a sacrifice groundout to second senior Reagon Dykes scored sophomore KB Sides from third. Tide freshman Skyler Wallace then cleared the bases with a 2-RBI single up the middle to plate Kaylee Tow and Bailey Hemphill for an early 3-0 lead before Texas every came to bat.

The Tide added another run in the top of the second on a two-out RBI single by Sides to mount a 4-0 advantage through two innings, but the Longhorns weren’t going away quietly. Not after what happened to their ace.

“She got us here, she was the horse last weekend, she’s been the horse this season, and I think the team showed a lot of character backing her up with some runs,” White said.

Trailing 4-0 at that point, Texas’ bats came alive in the bottom of the third with back-to-back one-out singles put two on against Alabama junior starter Krystal Goodman, who was quickly replaced by freshman ace Montana Fouts. But Fouts, who threw a three-hit complete-game shutout Thursday night, wasn’t nearly as sharp as the night before and promptly surrendered Iakopo’s three-run home.

Texas wasn’t done teeing off on Fouts, though, as Tedder led off the next inning with a solo home run before back-to-back singles led to Goodman reentering with no outs in the inning. The Alabama meltdown continued when Wallace skipped a throw to first on a simple one-out grounder that allowed two more runs to score. Texas added one more run on a ground out to short before Goodman induced an inning-ending fly-out to left field to stop the bleeding with the Tide trailing 7-4 through four innings.

Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy celebrates Merris Schroder’s third-inning two-run home run during Thursday’s 3-0 win over No. 9 Texas in the first game of a best-of-three Tuscaloosa Super Regional on May 23, 2019 from Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa. (Photo by Noah Sutton/Alabama athletics)

Alabama junior Bailey Hemphill gets under a pitch during Thursday’s 3-0 win over No. 9 Texas in the first game of a best-of-three Tuscaloosa Super Regional on May 23, 2019 from Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa. (Photo by Noah Sutton/Alabama athletics)

Alabama sophomore right fielder KB Sides celebrates a third-inning double during Thursday’s 3-0 win over No. 9 Texas in the first game of a best-of-three Tuscaloosa Super Regional on May 23, 2019 from Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa. (Photo by Noah Sutton/Alabama athletics)

Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy speaks to the media following Thursday’s 3-0 win over No. 9 Texas in the first game of a best-of-three Tuscaloosa Super Regional on May 23, 2019 from Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa. (Photo by Noah Sutton/Alabama athletics)