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Alabama softball wins SEC Tournament championship, run-ruling Florida 10-1

Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy pulled senior Jazlyn Lunceford aside during an at-bat during the third inning of the SEC Softball Tournament. He told her, “Look at the wind, look at the flagpole, where’s it going? It’s going straight out to left field. If you get that outside pitch, be on time and hammer it.”

And Lunceford did just that, cranking a three-run home run off of the scoreboard in left center field that gave the Tide a 6-1 lead over the Florida Gators. Alabama continued to pile on, run-ruling the Gators 10-1 to claim its fifth SEC Tournament Championship and second in three years.

“I thought yesterday was awesome,” Murphy said. “Today was even better and more fun.”

Alabama did it all without the help of its ace pitcher Jackie Traina. Traina, who was named SEC Tournament MVP, was held out of today’s game after pitching in the Tide’s first two games of the SEC Tournament as well as all throwing every pitch in a three-game series against Florida the weekend before.

Senior Amanda Locke got the start in her place, and pitched all five innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run. And her team gave her all the run support she needed.

“Florida takes big hacks, so just trying to of keep the ball low and keep it out of their zone where they like to hit the ball. They’re power hitters, they hit hard. So you’ve just got to keep it low,” Locke said. ”It’s so great to be a pitcher and have the hitting that can put runs up there all the time.”

The win was even sweeter for Alabama, because it came less than a year after the Gators knocked the Tide out of the 2011 College World Series. Alabama had also taken the regular season series from the Gators 2-1 to secure the regular season SEC Championship.

“It is,” Lunceford said when asked if it was nice to get revenge. “And there’s no other group of people that I’d rather get the win with. We have each other’s backs, and I think that’s why we’re so successful.”

Kaila Hunt got things going right away for Alabama, hitting a two-run triple in the first inning that put the Tide up 2-0. In the third, she hit an RBI single before Alabama’s sluggers broke the game open.

Later in the third after Lunceford’s three-run shot, Kendall Dawson sent a two-run blast over the head of the ESPN cameraman in left field that put the Tide up 8-1, and Alabama never looked back.

Hunt completed her monster day with an RBI single in the fourth inning, her third hit and fourth RBI of the day. Cassie Reilly-Boccia added the tenth run later in the fourth with an RBI single of her own. Florida came up short in the top of the fifth, ensuring the run-rule win.

“You’ve got to give credit to the top of the lineup,” Hunt said of her performance. “I don’t really have a good weekend if the top of the lineup doesn’t get on. So I give a lot of credit to Braud and Jen and Locke hitting before me. It’s a team win, for sure. I don’t do well if they don’t do well.”

The win capped one of the most successful seasons in Alabama softball history – it’s just the second time that Alabama has won both the regular season and SEC Tournament titles. But regular season and SEC accolades aren’t the focus for Murphy and his team any more. The focus now shifts to the post-season, where the Tide is still looking for its first College World Series win. Alabama finished tied for third in 2008, 2009 and 2011. And a stunning, walk-off loss to Hawaii in 2010 denied Alabama the chance to even play in Oklahoma City.

And so as the the championship hats were handed out at Rhoads Stadium on Saturday, the Alabama softball team left happy, but not yet satisfied. The Tide is guaranteed a spot in a regional round, which will be held in Tuscaloosa, where the real season begins.

“One thing that really keeps this team strong is the bond that we have,” Locke said. “It’s easy to come out every day and play a game every day and play against the best teams in the country because our team is such a unit. We play together and we play for each other.”

SEC Softball Tournament liveblog: Alabama vs. Florida

We’re here at Rhoads Stadium for the SEC Softball Tournament final between No. 1 seed Alabama and No. 3 seed Florida. Alabama and Florida just played a series last weekend, which Alabama took two games to one. Alabama is going for its fifth SEC Softball Tournament championship.

First pitch is scheduled for noon central time. As you can see in the picture, it’s pretty cloudy here, so we’ll see if the rain holds off. According to weather.com, it looks like there’s a good chance of rain starting at 2:00 p.m.

Follow along here for all the SEC Softball Tournament action.

Alabama beats Georgia 1-0, advances to SEC Tournament Final

Junior Courtney Conley hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning to give Alabama a 1-0 lead at the SEC Softball Tournament. It turns out, that was all the Tide needed.

Aided by a shutout effort from ace right-hander Jackie Traina, No. 1 seed Alabama beat the No. 4 seed Georgia Bulldogs 1-0 to advance to the tournament finals on Saturday. The Tide will face the No. 3 seed Florida Gators at noon at Rhoads Stadium.

“That was a heck of a game. I think everyone got their money’s worth,” Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said. “One mistake, probably, by their kid meant the game. And that’s fast pitch softball.”

Conley’s home run was the first Alabama hit of the day, and it would only register two more over the next six innings against Erin Arevalo, who pitched the whole game for Georgia.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play hard,” Conley said. “I just thought, ‘Up the middle, line drive up the middle.’ It felt good, obviously, to get a run for my team.”

Traina was under siege all day, but found a way to keep the shutout going. In the fourth inning, Georgia had runners on second and third with one out. A fielder’s choice and groundout later, the inning was over. In the fifth, the Bulldogs had a runner on third with two outs, but Traina forced the fly out.

And in the seventh inning, with one last chance to get a run on the board, Georgia had runners on first and second with no outs. But Traina, like she has been all season, was there to shut the door.

“You have to be a little more focused when runners are on,” Traina said. “You have to be a lot smarter when you pitch. You have to know who’s at bat. You have to think ahead, especially when you’re throwing pitches you want them to swing at.”

“I wish she’d get three up three down for sure, with no one on,” Murphy said, when asked if Traina gets better when there are runners in scoring position. “But yeah, I think so. It’s like the pressure sets in, there’s somebody on and then she goes to work.”

Standing in the Tide’s way for the SEC Tournament crown are the Florida Gators. Alabama took the season series from the Gators last weekend, winning two of the three games to clinch the regular season SEC title.

Now, the Tide will get another shot at the Gators – again with an SEC title on the line.

“It came down to it last weekend, we might as well do it again, right?” Murphy said. “We have great respect for their kids and their coaching staff. They do an awesome job. I hope this is it for the year, though, with us and Florida.”

The start time for the tournament final was moved to noon due to inclement weather. The game will be televised on ESPN2.