Alabama Softball Downs Florida, Secures Spot in SEC Tournament Championship

Lexington, Ky. - Alabama softball is back in the SEC tournament championship game for a chance to secure the Crimson Tide's seventh SEC tournament championship after Alabama downed the Florida Gators 9-1 in a run-rule victory in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon. It's the 10th SEC Tournament Championship Alabama softball will appear in.

Get our free mobile app

Freshman pitcher Vic Moten picked up her 19th win of the season in Saturday's start, pitching five innings and allowing just three hits and one run, while striking out four Florida batters.

The Crimson Tide's scoring onslaught began in the bottom of the second inning, where Ambrey Taylor hit a solo home run to left field to give the Tide a 1-0 lead early. Two outs later, Alabama was able to bring home another two runs, with Ana Roman hitting an RBI single to allow Salen Hawkins to score, Alexis Pupillo to advance to second base, and Brooke Wells to head to third base. One batter later, Marlie Giles hit a 2RBI single and advanced to second on a fielder's choice, with Pupillo and Wells cruising home to give the Crimson Tide a 4-0 lead early on Friday afternoon.

Alabama again did damage in the bottom of the third inning, with Jena Young slamming home a double to right-center field before advancing to third on an error. That same error led to Kristen White, who reached third base on the initial double by Young, to score, giving the Crimson Tide a 5-1 lead over Florida. Alexis Pupillo singled up the middle with two outs on the board to allow Jena Young to score an unearned run, putting Alabama in the territory to run-rule Florida with a 6-1 lead, if the Crimson Tide could survive the fourth and fifth innings from the Gators.

Alabama did more than survive; the Crimson Tide thrived in the fifth inning. A double by Pupillo saw Jena Young score, giving Pupillo her second RBI of the day. A double by Vandagriff brought Pupillo home, and Alabama had the game-winning run standing on third base in Larissa Preuitt.

Ambrey Taylor, who started the day scoring for the Crimson Tide, ended the day with an RBI single to left center field, with Larissa Preuitt racing home to give the Crimson Tide a 9-1 victory over Florida.

Alabama advances to the SEC Tournament championship, where the Crimson Tide awaits the winner of 9-seed Georgia and 4-seed Texas.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.