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Alabama punches ticket to Women's College World Series with victory over Tennessee

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•05/26/24•

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Alabama catcher Riley Valentine celebrates her grand slam vs. Tennessee
© Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

It didn’t take long for Alabama to take an early lead over Tennessee in Sunday’s if-necessary game. The Crimson Tide got a grand slam from Riley Valentine in the top of the first inning to jump out to the 4-0 advantage.

Then, everything stopped. The game entered a three-hour weather delay after lightning entered the Knoxville area, and play resumed at 7:15 p.m. ET. The 4-0 score held until the bottom of the seventh when the Tennessee offense started to wake up, and the Lady Vols loaded the bases with one out. However, Alabama held on to come away with the 4-1 victory, punching a ticket to the Women’s College World Series.

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Valentine set the tone early, and Jocelyn Briski dominated through six innings. Kayla Beaver then came in to seal the deal and help Alabama return to the WCWS for the 15th time in program history.

Briski looked strong in her 6.1 innings of work, allowing just one run on four hits while totaling four strikeouts. In fact, two of those hits came in the seventh inning before Beaver took over in relief to get the save.

On the Tennessee side, Payton Gotshall had a strong showing outside of the grand slam to Valentine. She allowed four hits and a walk in three innings of work before handing it over to Karlyn Pickens, who held Alabama scoreless in her four innings of work and gave up just two hits.

It was quite a way to end a thrilling Super Regional – highlighted by an all-time classic in Game 2.

Tennessee – the No. 3 seed in the tournament – won the first game of the Knoxville Super Regional 3-2, putting the Lady Vols one victory away from a trip to Oklahoma City. But Alabama got the victory in Saturday’s game, which was one for the books. The Crimson Tide and Lady Vols went 14 innings, which set a Super Regional record for the longest game and became the longest NCAA Tournament game between two SEC opponents in history.

Ultimately, Alabama wound up scoring first to get the victory. Kristen White came up with the clutch hit with the bases loaded and nobody out, giving the Crimson Tide the 3-2 victory and forcing a decisive Game 3.

Now, Alabama will head to Oklahoma City to take on UCLA in the first game of the Women’s College World Series.