Tennessee softball's Laura Mealer on joy of winning homer: 'Alabama's not my favorite team'

Hitting homers against Alabama isn't anything new for Laura Mealer.

And there's no love lost between the Tennessee softball shortstop and the Crimson Tide.

"(Do) I have something against them — honestly, yes," Mealer said Friday. "I've been a Tennessee fan my whole life, so Alabama's not my favorite team."

Mealer, who transferred to Tennessee from Middle Tennessee State last offseason, hit the winning home run for No. 3 seed Tennessee, which beat No. 14 seed Alabama 3-2 to open the NCAA super regional Friday in Knoxville.

It was a familiar feeling for the Chapel Hill, Tennessee, native, who hit two homers against the Tide last season in the NCAA regionals. The second one was a two-run shot that gave MTSU the win and forced the extra game.

"I mean, we wanted Laura here because of what we saw her do at MTSU against good competition," Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said. "I mean, she tore up that regional down there last year at Alabama. And I just said, 'Laura, that's who you are.' "

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Mealer is hitting .283 with eight home runs, 26 RBIs and an on-base percentage of .417 in her first season as a Lady Vol. Her OPS of .983 is the third-highest on the team.

Tennessee will play Alabama in Game 2 on Saturday (3 p.m. ET, ESPN) for a trip to the Women's College World Series. It would be the first time the Lady Vols made consecutive appearances in the WCWS since 2013.

Game 3, if necessary, will be Sunday, with the time TBD.

Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee softball's Laura Mealer says she's not a fan of Alabama