Troy softball opened its season in front of a standing room only crowd with a doubleheader against Maryland and Alabama in the Trojan Classic.

The Trojans outlasted the Terrapins 4-3 in the first contest before losing 7-1 to the Crimson Tide in the nightcap.

Senior infielder Madeline Porter recorded three RBI’s versus Maryland, all three coming off of a deep double to center field. Porter added another hit against Alabama, but the Troy offense was stifled all night by the Tide.

After a scoreless first inning, Alabama struck first with a two-run shot over the left field wall courtesy of Claire Jenkins. The home run was Jenkins’ second of the day after hitting one in the Tide’s win over Murray State.

The Troy bats came out cold as Alabama freshman pitcher Montana Fouts retired the first nine Trojans. Porter finally got on base for Troy with a leadoff single to get the bottom of the fourth inning started.

Two batters and two outs later, centerfielder Stephanie Snyder drove a pitch deep into the right-center gap to bring in a run. The score cut the Tide’s lead in half, 2-1.

Alabama answered quickly, though, and Troy starting pitcher Annie Willis’ day came to an end in the fifth inning after giving up a single and run-scoring double.

Willis threw 4.1 innings and was charged with four runs allowed. She struck out three batters and walked one.

Kynsley Blasingame replaced Willis, but gave up an RBI double before walking the next batter. Senior Peyton Glover took over the circle and worked Troy into and out of a bases loaded situation.

Alabama exploded in the top of the final inning and tacked on three insurance runs on Glover while the Trojans could only muster two hits over the last three innings.

Foust threw a complete game for the Tide, giving up just one run on four hits. She notched her first win of the year while Willis was saddled with the loss.

“We had some costly mistakes and didn’t make enough adjustments at the plate,” Troy coach Beth Mullins said after the game. “We’ve got two more ballgames we have to play tomorrow.”

Troy has another doubleheader on Saturday, this time with Maryland at 3:00 and then Murray State at 5:30.