Alabama Fizzles Out, Falls Short of SEC Softball Tournament Title
Alabama fell one game short of the SEC regular season title, and the Crimson Tide fell one game short of the tournament title after getting overwhelmed in all three phases in Saturday's tournament championship against Texas.
The 4-seed Longhorns scored seven unanswered runs to claim their first SEC tournament title in a 7-1 victory over the 2-seed Crimson Tide.
Texas ace Teagan Kavan was phenomenal in the circle in her third time facing the Crimson Tide this season. The combination of her rise ball and changeup kept the Alabama batters off balance all game, and she struck out 12.
The Crimson Tide's best chance to get to Kavan came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Brooke Wells reached on a leadoff error, and the Tide had the bases loaded with one out after an infield single and walk. But Kavan struck out the next two batters to leave the bases loaded. Alabama never threatened again.
Alabama appeared to have all the momentum after the first inning. Alexis Pupillo crushed a solo home run with two outs to give the Crimson Tide the early lead, but that momentum quickly dissipated.
The Texas offense seemed to find all the right holes in the second inning and was able to put up two runs against Alabama ace Jocelyn Briski. She was able to work her way out of a jam in the next inning, and she was relieved by Vit Moten to start the fourth.
Texas put up three runs in the fourth inning starting with an RBI single from SEC Player of the Year Katie Stewart. The next two runs came on what should have been the final out of the inning. Audrey Vandagriff dropped a fly ball to left field with bases loaded that allowed two runs to score that pushed the Longhorns lead to 5-1.
Stewart's day wasn't done with a solo home run in the sixth, and Texas added on one more run with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Reese Atwood.
The Crimson Tide offense had been so good through the first two games of the SEC tournament but disappeared when it mattered most on Saturday.
Alabama now awaits its NCAA tournament fate. The Crimson Tide is in the conversation to be the No. 1 overall seed and will almost certainly be a top-eight seed with the opportunity to host regionals and super regionals at Rhoads Stadium. The NCAA selection show is Sunday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
This story will be updated with quotes and videos.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/alabama as Alabama Fizzles Out, Falls Short of SEC Softball Tournament Title.
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This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 4:34 PM.