![Florida head coach Tim Walton talks before a NCAA softball game at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Wednesday, February 11, 2026. Florida beat Jacksonville in their home opener 11-1, [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2586,h_1454/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kr56dcpv25nreyrdn0.jpg "Florida head coach Tim Walton talks before a NCAA softball game at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Wednesday, February 11, 2026. Florida beat Jacksonville in their home opener 11-1, [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
Friday’s SEC Semifinal contest between Florida and Alabama went about as poorly as possible for the Gators. Florida managed just three hits, had two errors, and was unceremoniously booted from the SEC Tournament in a 9-1 run-rule loss to the Crimson Tide.
There is a silver lining to this loss that won’t necessarily apply when Florida is at it’s best, but Florida’s last four games as a whole suddenly create a real doubt as to whether or not this squad is a lock for Oklahoma City.
Gators fall 9-1 to Alabama in SEC Tournament
Florida can somewhat feel a little bit better knowing that Keagan Rothrock did not pitch on Friday, but it’s also a reminder that Florida doesn’t have an arm that has been reliable over their last four games. As we highlighted after Florida’s 10-9 win over Auburn, the injury to Ava Brown back in February that has kept her out of the circle has really started to show itself over the past week.
The thing is, even with Brown out, Florida was still in the top 15 for ERA against heading into the week, but they have now managed to give up at least nine runs in four straight games.
Assuming Florida still winds up as a top-eight seed (they are currently 5th in RPI), the Gators should be able to slug their way out of the Regional round even if their pitching continues this trend.
As Friday proved, though, Florida can’t always slug their way out when their pitching falls apart against better competition. Yes, the Gators had ten runners left on base against Alabama, which isn’t always going to be the case for a team that is 6th in batting average. But in their last ten games, Florida has been held to one run or been shut out in four of them.
So, for a team that a week ago was probably dreaming of a deep run in Oklahoma City, it is suddenly needing to be on upset alert to make it there in the first place. The Gators will find out their seeding and bracket to the WCWS on Sunday at 7 PM.
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