Kelly Barnhill pitched like Kelly Barnhill on Friday afternoon. And as it turns out, that’s exactly what the doctor ordered for the Florida Gators. The Gators advanced to their latest SEC Softball Tournament Final with their 3-0 victory over the Auburn Tigers. The 6-seeded Gators, who’ve been on quite the run through College Station, will vie for yet another Tournament Championship on Saturday against either Alabama or Kentucky. Barnhill needed 92 pitches to take down the Tigers, allowing just one extra base hit, a double by Morgan Podany. She was otherwise magnificent, allowing just one other hit, by Tannon Snow. She struck out 11 batters and allowed only two walks along the way. 61 of her 92 pitches went for strikes, in simply a terrific performance for the ace hurler. The Gators, meanwhile, got things started off on the right foot. Hannah Adams drove one over the fence in the 1st inning, good for two runs, as she drove Kendyl Lindaman in with the bomb to right centerfield. Adams also drove in another run two innings later, as she singled to score Amanda Lorenz. Those three runs by Adams would be all that Florida needed to keep Auburn down, but their offense was stymied otherwise. Chardonnay Harris and Lexie Handley allowed only three hits on the day and combined for nine strikeouts and two walks. Handley allowed no hits runs in her 3.2 innings of work. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they just couldn’t break through against Barnhill at all to get on the board and properly threaten them. Florida will be shooting for their fifth SEC Tournament Championship when they go against either ‘Bama or Kentucky on Saturday evening in College Station.<doc-sep>With the most competitive league in the nation, the Southeastern Conference will have ten ranked teams participating in the Tournament held this week May 8-11 in College Station. If you are anywhere near a casino, don’t bet on these games. They could all go any which way. 4. Alabama 50-6 9. Florida 40-15 10. LSU 40-15 11. Tennessee 39-13 13. Georgia 39-16 17. Ole Miss 36-16 19. Arkansas 38-17 20. South Carolina 36-16 23. Kentucky 32-21 24. Auburn 35-18 NR Missouri 32-22 NR Mississippi State 32-20 NR Texas A&M 28-24 (Vanderbilt does not field a softball team so they can win bowling championships against schools you’ve never heard of.) DAY 1 SCHEDULE Mississippi State and host team Texas A&M kick it off Wednesday morning for the rights to move on to a game later in the evening against 5-seed Ole Miss. Arkansas versus Georgia should be the best game of the day. Both teams are coming off a home sweeps of ranked SEC foes. The winner gets to face the No. 1 seeded Crimson Tide. 12 Mississippi St 3 , 13 Texas A&M 2 - The host team is the first eliminated. , 13 - The host team is the first eliminated. 11 South Carolina vs 6 Florida 12:30 CT - Tornado delays. That is SO Texas. vs 6 12:30 CT - Tornado delays. That is SO Texas. 10 Auburn vs 7 Missouri 3:00 CT SEC vs 7 3:00 CT SEC 9 Arkansas vs 8 Georgia 5:30 CT SEC vs 8 5:30 CT SEC 5 Ole Miss vs MSU 8:00 CT DAY 2 SCHEDULE Alabama, Tennessee, LSU, and Kentucky are your top four seeds. They all were rewarded with Day 1 byes and will not begin play until Thursday. 3 LSU vs SC -Florida winner 11:00 am CT vs winner 2 Tennessee vs Auburn- Mizz winner 1:30 CT Thurs vs winner Thurs 1 Alabama vs UGA- Ark winner 4:00 CT 8:28pm CT Thurs vs winner 8:28pm CT Thurs 4 Kentucky vs OM- MSU winner 6:30 CT will play Friday All games will be televised on SEC Network. The semifinals and final will be aired on ESPN2. Check SEC Network+ later in the week for online airings in your area. All Alabama games can be heard on Radio: 93.3 FM. UPDATED BRACKET Thanks to inclement weather, games have been pushed back. Alabama will now play UGA at 8pm CT.<doc-sep>
Alabama is playing for a championship on Saturday! The Crimson Tide defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 6-3 on Friday night to earn a berth in the SEC Tournament Title Game. The win assures them a shot at their sixth softball tourney title, as they’ll face off with the Florida Gators in College Station on Saturday night. ‘Bama put up a big ol’ six spot in the 2nd inning to help lift them to victory. KB Sides’ three-RBI double was the biggest of blows, as she cleared the bases with her deft hit to left center. Other runs had been tacked on via a walk by Claire Jenkins, a single by Caroline Hardy and Merris Schroder, who reached on a fielder’s choice. Kentucky had to scrape back, but the game was not without controversy. A pitch dealt to Abbey Cheek was called a strike and resulted in a strikeout of the SEC Player of the Year. The pitch, though, looked to be even with the other batters box, which of course would lead it to being a ball. The call by the ump didn’t change, however, and UK was forced to deal with that bind the rest of the way. They piled on three runs along the way in three of the next four innings, but were ultimately taken down by ‘Bama. The runs were driven in by Jenny Schaper, who hit a single up the middle, and Mallory Peyton who hit a sac fly. Lauren Johnson was also responsible for a run, as she plated one on a single that also went up the middle.