Alabama Softball Silences Florida to Advance to First SEC Tournament Final since 2021

Alabama is looking like a championship team again, and the Crimson Tide will have the opportunity to compete for a championship on Saturday.

The 2-seed Alabama run ruled 3-seed Florida, 9-1, in five innings during Friday's SEC tournament semifinal game to clinch its spot back in the tournament title game for the first time since 2021.

"It was just a really good day for us," Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said after the game. "I know Vic might’ve not had her best stuff, but when she did throw strikes, she did pretty well... Just a really good win for us.”

Freshman Vic Moten gets the complete-game victory in the circle for the Crimson Tide, but she had to work for it. The Gators had constant traffic on the base paths because of the seven walks Moten allowed, but she managed to get out of it almost every time, stranding 10 Florida runners on base across the five innings.

"From the very beginning this year, she has been as coachable of a pitcher as we’ve ever had, and if she wasn’t, she probably wouldn’t have survived today," Murphy said of Moten.

She was also backed up by an Alabama offense that has roared back to life after a couple of slow series to end the regular season. The Crimson Tide scored nine runs on 13 hits in Friday's walloping of the Gators. Alabama scored nine total runs over the last five games of the regular season and has scored 16 total runs across the first two games of the SEC tournament.

Alabama also left the bases loaded in the first inning, but freshman Ambrey Taylor got the scoring started in the second with a leadoff home run, her 11th of the year. Taylor had a fantastic day at the plate with three hits, including the game-ending RBI in the fifth inning to end the game early.

All nine players in the starting lineup reached base at least one time, and seven different players recorded a hit. Taylor, Alexis Pupillo, Ana Roman, Marlie Giles and Audrey Vandagriff all had RBI base hits.

On a day where Florida was pitching around Alabama home run leader Brooke Wells, Pupillo stepped up to protect her. Twice she followed up walks to Wells with RBI hits. Jena Young set the tone in the leadoff spot, reaching base four times and scoring twice.

"I just think we always want to get our swings off and get up in the count and be ahead in the count," Young said. "If we get a good pitch, we drive it, and I think we did that very well today as opposed to getting behind. Just staying with the process and knowing what we’re looking for when we’re up in the box.”

Alabama (49-6) will now face the winner of the second semifinal between 4-seed Texas and 9-seed Georgia on Saturday at 4 p.m. for the chance at the Crimson Tide's seventh SEC tournament title.

"We always believe that the best is yet to come, whatever we’re doing," Murphy said. "So tomorrow, maybe it’s icing on the cake that we make it to the championship game. It’s a thrill for us. We love this…It feels like we’re getting our little reward to get to play again. Like I said yesterday, I wish all coaches got to coach a team like this because they have been unbelievably great ladies on and off the field. I mean, no issues whatsoever. They’re very coachable. They deserve an opportunity tomorrow to win an SEC championship.”

The win over Florida likely solidifies Alabama's spot as the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament, but that will officially be revealed in the NCAA selection show on Sunday night.

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