Alabama softball defeats Tennessee to head back to Women’s College World Series

KNOXVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The No. 14 seed Alabama softball team held off No. 3 seed Tennessee 4-1 in the winner-take-all game three to punch its ticket to the Women’s College World Series.

The Tide used a first-inning grand slam by Riley Valentine to take the early 4-0 lead, then the game went into a lengthy weather delay. Following the delay, the Alabama offense cooled off, but Jocelyn Briski and the defense got to work. Briski threw 6.1 innings, alowing just one run on four hits with four strikeouts. Kayla Beaver came in and picked up the save.

Alabama has fought through a lot of adversity this season and struggled to end the regular season: they lost four straight SEC series and went one-and-done in the SEC Tournament. The Tide entered the NCAA Tournament with a 33-17 overall record and a 10-14 mark in SEC play. They also lost the first game of the Knoxville Super Regional 3-2, and battled through 14 innings in game two, winning 3-2, to force the third game.

Now, they’re headed to the Women’s College World Series for the second year in a row and 15th time in program history. Alabama will open against No. 6 seed UCLA on Thursday, May 30 at 11:00 a.m. central time.

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