Florida softball vs Alabama in SEC Tournament Semifinals: Score, recap

Erickson moves to first base, Brown replaces Matsuno at designated player, Wesolowski comes in to replace Walker at catcher and Wells takes over at first for Duchscherer in the bottom of the fifth. Oxley serves up a linedrive single through the right side to Young on the first pitch, bringing up the winning run to the plate.

Pupillo drives a ball into the left-center gap that reaches the wall for an RBI double and the Gators are now two runs away from being run-ruled by the Tide. Roman draws a five-pitch walk and gets replaced by pinch-runner Larissa Preuitt. Oxley throws two straight balls to Giles, which brings out Walton for a brief word; she throws another ball before a very generous call by the ump finally gives her a strike, and a fly ball to short center makes it two outs.

Vandagriff drives a 54 mph changeup into right field to bring in the lead runner and put the run-rule score at third. Taylor singles to left field and that’s all she wrote, folks.

Hawkins takes over at shortstop for Hubbard on defense, and Moten remains in the game despite the high pitch count. Brown draws a four-pitch walk and the catcher comes out to talk to her pitcher; Kalie Matsuno comes in to pinch-run for Brown.

Thomas flies out to left field for the first out before Cahalan comes up and loops a single into right-center to put another Gator in scoring position. Runners at first and second, and Walker loads the bases with a liner up the middle.

After 110 pitches, Alabama’s head coach comes out to the mound for a discussion with his pitcher, whose pitch count has now reached 110. She stays in the game to face the heat and gets McLellan on a fielder’s choice, throwing to home to get the lead runner and preventing Florida from scoring, while also just missing a double play.

Bases still loaded for Desiderio, who pops up to second to end the threat. (M5: Florida 1, Alabama 6)

Right-hander Katelynn Oxley is now in the game looking to keep things from getting out of hand with runners on second and third and just one out. She gets Mari Hubbard, who is pinch-hitting for Hawkins, to pop up to shortstop on the first offering for out No. 2.

White works the count full before weakly popping up to the pitcher and the threat is over. (E4: Florida 1, Alabama 6)

Giles opens up the bottom of the fourth with a lineout to the center field on the first pitch she sees. Vandagriff reaches first on a bunt single that is misthrown to first, but not badly enough to advance. She reaches third on a line-drive single off the bat of Taylor into center field — credit her with a great hustle play.

So now there are runners on the corners and one out, and Walton heads to the mound for another pitching change. (B4: Florida 1, Alabama 6)

Comia breaks the leadoff walk trend by flying out to left field for the first out of the fourth inning. Shumaker gives the ball a ride out to the warning track in left on the first pitch she sees, but the fielder is there to grab it for the second out. Erickson grounds out to second, giving Moten a much-needed easy inning as her pitch count reaches 95 after seven offerings. (M4: Florida 1, Alabama 6)

Florida’s new pitcher out of the bullpen is left-hander Olivia Miller, who saw action in relief yesterday against Auburn, with two outs and a runner on first. Young crushes a curveball off the centerfield wall to bring home the runner and she advances to third on the misplayed throw as ‘Bama gets its four-run lead back.

Miller walks Wells and then surrenders an RBI single to Pupillo on a grounder right back up the middle; Kinley Pate comes in as a pinch runner for Wells. With two on and two out, Roman ground to third for the force out, but the damage is already done. (E3: Florida 1, Alabama 6)

Stevens’ first offering is a 52 mph changeup that hits the dirt in front of the plate, but she gets Ambrey Taylor to fly out to center on the next pitch. Salen Hawkins chops a low 54 mph changeup that almost bounces off the plate to third for out No. 2. Unfortunately, she can’t get the No. 9 hitter out — Kristen White loops a single into left field, and that is it for Stevens after 67 pitches. (B3: Florida 1, Alabama 4)

Florida gets a leadoff walk for the third-straight inning after Brown watched ball four go by and Thomas sends her to third with a double that bounces off the bottom of the wall in left-center for a double.

With runners on second and third, Cahalan works the count full before flying out to left — but not deep enough to bring the runner home on a sac fly.

Walker follows that up with a grounder to shortstop that gets the runner home and moves the other over to second, but also records the second out of the inning. McLellan hit a hard grounder that takes a tough bounce for the third baseman; she is unable to field it cleanly and gets charged with the error, keeping the Gators’ rally alive.

Another meeting at the mound and Alabama’s bullpen is now active as Moten’s pitch count reaches 84 with runners at the corners. Desiderio flies out to right and the inning is over. (M3: Florida 1, Alabama 4)

Ambrey Taylor leads off the bottom half of the frame with a solo shot off a 63 mph riseball 236 feet over the left field fence and off the scoreboard, and Alabama takes the early lead.

Salen Hawkins gets hit by the first pitch she sees, and she advances to second on a good bunt by Kristen White. One out and a runner in scoring position as the lineup turns over the leadoff hitter Young, who works back from an 0-2 count to ground out to second, which moves the runner over to third with two outs.

Florida sends a coach out to the mound for a quick chat before Wells takes steps into the batter’s box, and after she works a full count, Stevens throws a ball way too low to issue the walk. Now with runners on the corners, Pupillo sees a steady stream of changeups before watching ball four just miss low to load the bases.

Stevens shows visible frustration as Roman walks up to the plate and proceeds to line a single into right field to plate another run. Giles hits the ball into left field, which sinks before Thomas can reach it; she misplays the ball and two more runs score.

Alabama sends all nine batters to the plate this inning, but the rally ends with a groundout to second off the bat of Vandagriff. (E2: Florida 0, Alabama 4)

Madison Walker leads off the second by falling in the hole 0-2 before working a full count walk — Florida’s third free pass of the game already — and Moten’s pitch count is already at 38. Cassidy McLellan tries to mess up the pitcher’s rhythm by showing bunt, and after yet another full count, takes first after the seventh pitch of the at-bat.

So now the Gators have two-straight no-out walks for the second-straight frame and Moten’s catcher comes out to talk for the third time this game. Gullia Desiderio comes up to the plate and chops a grounder to the shortstop, who tags the lead runner but can’t complete the double play, throwing the ball offline and drawing the first baseman off the bag.

Gabi Comia works a 2-1 count, and now Alabama’s coach comes out for a meeting at the mound with the full infield, and he looks a bit perplexed at what he’s seeing. Moten responds by throwing a wild pitch to load the count, allowing the runners to advance to second and third; Comia checks her swing on a high and inside pitch to load the bases after 10 pitches.

Shumaker works another full count before swinging through a 69 mph offering for out No. 2 and Erickson flies out in foul territory to the left fielder. Yet another scoring opportunity for the Gators is squandered. (M2: Florida 0, Alabama 0)

Jena Young leads off against Leah Stevens, who starts her off with a 62 mph offering that nips the low outside corner for a strike before looping a single into shallow left-center to give ‘Bama a leadoff runner. Brooke Wells follows her by drawing a four-pitch walk, and just like the Gators, the Tide have their first two on with no outs.

Stevens bounces back to get Alexis Pupillo swinging for out No. 1 on just three pitches, and then gets Ana Roman to fly into deep left-center, where Shumaker drops the ball for an error, loading the bases. So instead of two on with two outs, the bases are now loaded with one out.

Marlie Giles swings on a high offering out of the zone for another three-pitch strikeout and Audrey Vandagriff waves out a 54 mph changeup low and outside to end the threat. (E1: Florida 0, Alabama 0)

The game begins with a 72 mph fastball from Vic Moten that misses the zone against Taylor Shumaker, who works the count full before drawing a walk. Jocelyn Erickson also forces the count full before taking first, giving the Gators back-to-back free passes to open things up.

Ava Brown watches a pair of balls go by before the catcher comes out to talk to her pitcher for the second time already this inning; a passed ball on a swing-and-miss on a 68 mph drop ball allows the runners to advance. However, Brown check swings too far on a drop ball way too low for the first out.

Townsen Thomas sees two strikes from Moten and fouls one away before watching a close pitch on the inside corner for the first ball. She continued to grind away but chased on a 71 mph riseball for the second out. Alabama’s hurler keeps throwing smoke and gets Kenleigh Cahalan swinging to strike out three in a row and kill the rally. (M1: Florida 0, Alabama 0)