Falling One Game Short in SEC Fuels No. 1 Alabama's NCAA Tournament Focus

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama came up one game short of the SEC regular season title, finishing with a 19-5 record behind Oklahoma's 20-4 conference record. The Crimson Tide once again came up one-game short of the SEC tournament title, losing to Texas in the championship game.

It's a feeling Alabama( 49-7) doesn't want to experience again. Junior ace Jocelyn Briski said it's something that "definitely" fuels the Crimson Tide heading into the NCAA tournament, where Alabama is the No. 1 overall seed.

"It was in our reach both times, and I think it’s something that we still have one more championship that we can win: the national championship," Briski said. "I think that all of us know that we’re more than capable of winning the natty, and I think we’re just really excited to go out there the next three weeks and just compete.”

Alabama's path back to the Women's College World series and the hunt for its first national title since 2012 begins with USC Upstate (36-21) at Rhoads Stadium on Friday at noon CT. The Crimson Tide has to win three games to advance to the super regional round. In Supers, the Crimson Tide has to take two of three games from the winner of the Baton Rouge regional (featuring LSU, South Alabama, Virginia Tech and Akron.)

The Crimson Tide only lost seven games all season, and the only teams to beat Alabama twice were No. 7 Tennessee on the road in Knoxville during the regular season and No. 2 Texas with one win in the regular season and one in the SEC tournament. This Alabama team has responded well to adversity throughout the year and not experienced any lulls.

"We started off strong at Georgia Tech, we went through the non-conference really well," Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said. "We only lost one series, and that was on the road in the SEC. They have been the most consistent performing team that I think we've ever had."

Home run leader Brooke Wells doesn't expect the response to be any different after a disappointing performance in the 7-1 loss to the Longhorns last time out.

"Things happen, and we learn from it and just continue to move on," Wells said. "It doesn’t define us at all, and this season we’ve had has been so great, so just continuing to do what we do.”

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