It’s win-or-go-home time for Alabama softball. The Crimson Tide have seven innings to extend its season to a decisive Sunday game against Northwestern for a spot in the Women’s College World Series.

The Tide bats went silent on Friday night as ace pitcher Montana Fouts made her return after missing the regionals. Northwestern’s Danielle Williams easily handled Alabama’s lineup, limiting the Tide to one run on six hits. The Wildcats didn’t fare much better at the plate but managed runs in three straight innings in part due to a pair of Alabama errors for a 3-1 win.

Rhoads Stadium seemed near capacity about an hour before first pitch as a crowd prepared for the 8 p.m. CST start on ESPN.

Follow along for live updates.

2ND INNING

Top: Emma Broadfoot walked to start the inning and Faith Hensley ran for her. Hensley tried to catch Northwestern’s Lauren Boyd sleeping with a delayed steal but the pitcher tagged her out to wipe away the lead-off runner.

1ST INNING

Top: Ashley Prange’s first swing resulted in a double to the left-field corner and a hyped crowd stayed standing for Jenna Johnson’s at-bat when she bunted Prange to third. With the fans chanting her name, Dowling skied one to right field for a sacrifice fly. Alabama 1, Northwestern 0

Bottom: Torrence threw 20 pitches in the first including 11 strikes. Jordyn Rudd worked a walk with two outs but Torrence got Northwestern’s No. 4 hitter to ground out.

PREGAME

–Alabama is going with junior Jaala Torrence in the circle. The right-hander hasn’t allowed a run in her last 22.1 innings, which included a pair of shutouts in the regional round against LIU and Middle Tennessee State.

–Northwestern is throwing Lauren Boyd (2.26 ERA in 99.1 innings).

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].