Three Takeaways from Alabama Softball's Series Sweep over South Carolina

Alabama closed out conference play the same way it started it: with a sweep. The Crimson Tide (47-6, 19-5 SEC) won all three games over South Carolina at Rhoads Stadium with every matchup in the series decided by one run.

The opener came down to a game-winning wild pitch as Alabama won 3-2. Vic Moten and Jocelyn Briski combined for a complete-game shutout in Game 2 with an RBI-double from Ana Roman providing the lone run in the 1-0 victory. The finale required a little more grit as the Gamecocks weren't going down without a fight. Alabama scored three in the third inning and an extra insurance run from Alexis Pupillo in the fourth inning proved to be the game winner as the Tide won 4-3 on Saturday.

Here are three of my biggest takeaways from the series sweep over South Carolina to close out the regular season:

Crown her

Alabama Softball Player Jocelyn Briski (23) winds up against University of South Carolina at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Saturday, May 2, 2026. | UA Athletics

Patrick Murphy has been around a lot of good pitchers during his time at Alabama, and he said after Saturday's win that Briski had one of the best regular season performance from any pitcher in program history, deserving of winning SEC Pitcher of the Year.

Briski finished the regular season with a 20-2 record, 1.46 ERA and 167 strikeouts to just 16 walks. The SEC awards are based on conference only stats, so in SEC play, Briski was 13-2 (most wins) with a 2.23 ERA (third lowest) with 104 strikeouts (second most) and three saves with a WHIP of 0.93 (tied for best in SEC.)

She started the first and third games against South Carolina while earning the save in Game 2. She got the win in the regular season finale, striking out nine Gamecocks in the complete-game victory. Her performance against the Gamecocks further solidified her stance as one of the best pitchers in the SEC and country.

Crown him

Alabama Head Coach Patrick Murphy reacts to the game at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Saturday, May 2, 2026. | UA Athletics

He doesn't do it for the accolades, but Murphy's coaching job this season is worthy of the title of SEC Coach of the Year. Alabama was picked ninth in the preseason SEC poll and finished second with its highest conference win total since 2014 at 19-5.

Murphy won SEC Coach of the Year in 2014 and has won it five time total. He famously took the program to its first national title in 2012, but this year has been one of his best coaching jobs.

Coming off two of its worst conference seasons in program history (10-14 in 2024 and 12-12 in 2025), Murphy and his assistants Kayla Braud, Lance McMahon and Adam Arbour improved issues that plagued the Tide in the past. Alabama's offense took big strides this season, and the pitching continued to be dominant.

Murphy also did a good job constructing the roster by pulling the right pieces from the transfer portal in Brooke Wells and Jena Young. Wells leads the team in batting average (.413), home runs (21) and RBIs (58), and Young has been the Crimson Tide's consistent starter at second base for the majority of the season. The addition of an outstanding freshman class that featured four different players to win SEC Freshman of the Week was a big part of Alabama's resurgence, too.

This season marks 30 years of Alabama softball. Murphy has been involved with all 30 seasons and the head coach for the last 28, and he is still evolving his game as a head coach.

Handled business in the midst of a lot of distractions

The University of Alabama softball team chants after the game at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Saturday, May 2, 2026. | UA Athletics

Alabama came up one game short of Oklahoma in the race for the regular season SEC championship, but the Crimson Tide did all it could over the weekend by winning all three games against the Gamecocks.

It would have been really easy for Alabama to get distracted by the SEC race, SEC tournament seeding, senior day, game-time changes because of weather and all the outside noise that comes with being one of the most popular programs in the country.

The offense put together a crooked-number inning on Saturday and will need to continue to build on that performance as it heads into the SEC tournament, but Alabama put together a fantastic regular season with a resumé worthy of a top-five national seed in the NCAA tournament.

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