KB Sides has been waiting for a moment like this her entire Alabama softball career.
By the time the Crimson Tide senior finally established herself as one of the team's better hitters, the 2020 season was canceled. She was hitting .483 at the time and well on her way to All-America status as a junior.
So when the Dora, Alabama native stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and her team down two runs, she did what she knows how to do: swing away.
KB Sides' Clutch Triple in NCAA Super Regional
K ? B ? Sides ?
? ESPN2#RoadToWCWS x @AlabamaSB pic.twitter.com/v4WSO7fObI
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 28, 2021
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Alabama needed something on offense. Anything. Even one run would have felt like five as they remained scoreless into the fourth inning.
That's when Kendall Beth Sides showed she has ice in her veins.
The Crimson Tide right fielder roped a 1-2 offering over Kentucky centerfielder Renee Abernathy's outstretched arm in Game 1 of Alabama's NCAA Super Regional matchup against the Wildcats at Tuscaloosa's Rhoads Stadium.
Kaylee Tow, the runner on second, waited to make sure it wasn't caught. She was almost caught by the trailing runner, Jenna Johnson. The two slid in across home in succession and Sides bolted to third for a bases-clearing triple.
The best part may have been head coach Patrick Murphy's smiling face as he waved them all in.
https://twitter.com/IRUKLugo/status/1398347483802226690?s=20
Maddie Morgan added an RBI single and Alabama ace Montana Fouts shut the door in the bottom of the seventh (after a nail-biting inning) to give Tuscaloosa fans an important first game victory, 4-3.
? SUPER REGIONALS HIGHLIGHTS: (3) @AlabamaSB defeats (14) @UKsoftball, 4-3, in game one of the Tuscaloosa Super Regional.#RoadToWCWS pic.twitter.com/TrRHidwUgz
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 28, 2021
Alabama is on an absolute roll right now. The Crimson Tide have won 17 in a row, including downing Florida in the SEC Tournament and sweeping the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional.
The Tide need just one win to advance to Oklahoma City's Women's College World Series for the seventh time in the last 10 years. As long as they're hitting clutch like this, they should have no problem doing so.
