On Friday night, the fifth perfect game in WCWS history happened. Alabama pitcher Montana Fouts threw a perfect game on her 21st birthday, and Alabama beat UCLA 6-0. The last perfect game was in 2000 when Southern Miss pitcher Courtney Blades did in a 1-0 victory over Arizona.
ALABAMA PITCHER MONTANA FOUTS THROWS A PERFECT GAME 🤯
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 5, 2021
ON HER BIRTHDAY!#WCWS
(via @NCAAsoftball)pic.twitter.com/PX26kGU8YE
Montana Fouts finished the game with 14 strikeouts. Her best pitch is her raise fastball that baffles hitters at the plate.
Going into the 7th and final inning, Fouts had to face UCLA’s best three hitters. The pitcher struck out Bubba Nuckles and Rachel Garcia. The third batter Aaliyah Jordan flew out to left field for the final out.
On Thursday, Fouts was just as dominant; she struck out a career-high 16 batters — 14 of the first 18 she faced. Fouts improved to 25-3 with the win while recording a 73% strike rate against the Wildcats. Alabama Coach Patrick Murphy had this to say about Fouts after Thursday’s performance.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he told reporters in Oklahoma City, “I keep the stats in the dugout. I think from four all the way down to nine, I don’t think anybody put the ball in play, I could be wrong. But what a performance, I mean, that’s a great hitting team. Nothing to take away from them. That is a hell of a hitting team. For a kid to do that against an Arizona team that’s legit, that was pretty special to watch.”
Alabama advances to the semifinals, where they will play on Sunday.
