As a pop fly disappeared into second baseman Jordan Ridge's glove in shallow right field for the 21st out of the 2021 Conference USA Tournament Championship Game, all nine WKU Softball players on the field and everybody in the dugout rushed to dogpile on the infield.
The final out secured a blowout, 13-4 victory on Saturday afternoon over the No. 2 seed UAB to give the Hilltoppers their second-ever league tournament title – and first since 2015. All nine hitters in the WKU lineup recorded at least one hit as the team tied a season-high with 17 base knocks, including four homeruns from four different players.
Although seeding-wise the No. 4 Hilltoppers were the underdogs, they came into the game with confidence against UAB in particular. In a three-game series earlier this season from March 20-21 at the WKU Softball Complex, the Hilltoppers swept the Blazers by scores of 9-1 (in a five-inning run-rule win), 7-6 and 9-3.
The 13 runs scored by WKU on Saturday were the most allowed by UAB in 58 games, dating back to a 16-6 loss at Mississippi State on Feb. 28, 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
In the Blazers' 51-game 2021 season, they allowed the Hilltoppers to score nine-plus runs three times in four games. They didn't allow more than eight runs in any of the other 46 contests.
"As a team we came in knowing that we were very successful last time we played UAB, hitting-wise, so we went back and looked at the pitches we were getting," catcher Kendall Smith said. "Our approach was just successful in the first inning all the way to the seventh. Hitting our pitches and seeing what you needed to do to find a way on, and that's what we did."
Smith began WKU's scoring in the top of the first, knocking in right fielder Paige Carter with a single that gave the Hilltoppers an early 1-0 lead. After a 1-2-3 inning on the mound for Kennedy Sullivan in the bottom of the first, Carter knocked in a pair with a double for the 3-0 advantage.
But UAB came back with two runs off Sullivan in the bottom of the second, which caused head coach Amy Tudor to make a pitching change to Katie Gardner. The freshman got out of the frame limiting the damage, but the Blazers were right back in the game, trailing only 3-2.
After WKU had a scoreless top of the third, UAB threatened by putting runners on second and third with zero outs against new Hilltopper pitcher Shelby Nunn. But Nunn held the lead, escaping the jam without allowing either Blazer to score.
Momentum quickly switched in WKU's favor, as the Hilltoppers sent 10 hitters to the plate in the top of the fourth, scoring six runs on five hits, the biggest blow being a two-run homerun to center field by Smith.
It was then that the anticipation in the stadium became palpable, as the Hilltoppers could sense that the title was realistically in their sights.
Nunn allowed only two runs – both unearned – on three hits the rest of the way and WKU added four more runs to claim the 13-4 win. Carter and third baseman Taylor Sanders added solo shots, while Sullivan capped the scoring with a two-run dinger in the top of the seventh.
"We had momentum and confidence," head coach Amy Tudor said. "It was a matter of what you want and how bad do you want it, and obviously our team wanted it. Hats off to UAB for a great season – they have a lot of talented players – we just caught fire today with the bats."
The Hilltoppers started off their C-USA Tournament journey with a 3-2, come-from-behind win against No. 8 UTSA on Wednesday evening. But after a 4-1 loss to No. 1 North Texas on Thursday, chances of WKU ultimately holding up the trophy on Saturday afternoon were looking slim at best.
Down in the loser's bracket with their backs against the wall on Friday, the Hilltoppers scratched and clawed their way to a 3-2 win against No. 3 Charlotte to set up another matchup with the Mean Green, who fell to UAB earlier that day.
During the rematch, Smith was sitting next to Carter (also known as "Shrimp" to her teammates) in the dugout as the Hilltoppers trailed 2-1.
"I said: 'Shrimp, this is NOT your last game on this field. We're making it to tomorrow, I don't care what we gotta do,'" Smith explained.
It would be a tall task, as the Mean Green had their ace Hope Trautwein – the 2021 C-USA Pitcher of the Year – on the mound. Trautwein had defeated WKU on Thursday to give the Hilltoppers their first loss and was only six outs away from a second, which would eliminate them from the bracket and end their season completely.
But in the top of the sixth inning, Carter worked an eight-pitch leadoff walk and was tripled home by Ridge to tie the score at 2-2. Then Smith came up with a go-ahead sacrifice fly to drive in Ridge to give WKU a 3-2 lead.
"And then we scored that inning and I said: 'Look, I told you, I wasn't lying!'" Smith joked.
After adding another run against Trautwein in the seventh, the Hilltoppers took a 4-2 lead, which they would close out to advance to Saturday's championship game.
It was just another example of adversity overcome by WKU this season. The team lost key hitter Jordan Thomas to a broken hand halfway through the season, coincidentally against UAB in March, and was without pitcher Kelsey Aikey this weekend with an injury. And of the Hilltoppers' 13 losses this season, nine are by one run.
"We definitely had our setbacks with some losses that we didn't expect and just some other injuries and stuff," Sullivan – who earned the Tournament's MVP honors – said. "We knew this season was just going to be a dogfight the whole way through and we never lost sight of the end goal. Everybody just came together and we all fought and we came out on top."
Tudor added: "You know we went through some adversity, some injuries, all kinds of things throughout the season. But you know everybody has to step up when called upon and I felt like we've done that. But I think our true character and our grit and our resiliency came out today. I'm so proud of them, it's a special group."
With the 13-4 win on Saturday, this "special group" earned an automatic bid into the 2021 NCAA Softball Tournament, and will learn the bracket on Sunday during the Selection Show on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. WKU's last appearance in an NCAA Regional – in 2015 – began with back-to-back 2-1 victories over North Carolina and host Georgia, but ended with two consecutive run-rule losses to the Bulldogs in Athens.
Nunn, who earned victories in WKU's final two games this weekend, is excited about the 2021 team's potential.
"I think we've got a great chance to go and make a little bit of noise in the Regional," she said. "And I wouldn't want to compete with anybody else."
Smith echoed that sentiment emphatically: "We're very excited to see where we go. I think we're ready and I hope the other teams are ready because we're gonna bring it all. You know we're not scared of no one and we have nothing to lose."
