Alabama Softball Triumphs Over USC Upstate For 20th Super Regional

Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Alabama Softball continued its dominant postseason run from this Sunday, defeating USC Upstate 9-0 at Rhoads Stadium to advance to an NCAA-record 20th Super Regional appearance.

The Crimson Tide delivered its third shutout of the Tuscaloosa Regional weekend while powering its way forward with four home runs, continuing the championship-level form that helped Alabama earn the No. 1 overall national seed entering the NCAA Tournament.

Vic Moten carried a perfect game through four-plus innings against USC Upstate and a no-hitter through five. Jena Young went 3-for-5 from the leadoff hole, hitting two home runs and driving in four runs, both career highs. Audrey Vandagriff also got three hits, including her second home run of the weekend, and Brooke Wells blasted her 23rd long ball of the season, putting her three short of Alabama's single-season record.

Get our free mobile app

Alabama’s offense came alive early and never slowed down in the 9-0 win over USC Upstate. In the second inning, Audrey Vandagriff got the scoring started with a two-run home run to left field, giving the Crimson Tide a 2-0 lead.

The bats stayed hot in the third inning as Jena Young launched a two-run homer to extend the advantage to 4-0. Just moments later, Brooke Wells followed with a solo home run of her own to make it 5-0.

In the sixth inning, Wells added to her strong day at the plate with an RBI double that brought home Kristen White from second base, pushing the lead to 6-0.

Alabama kept adding insurance runs in the seventh inning. Vandagriff scored from second on an RBI single up the middle by Salen Hawkins to make it 7-0. Later in the inning, Young capped off her huge performance with her second home run of the game, a two-run shot to right field, sealing the Crimson Tide’s 9-0 victory.

Head coach Patrick Murphy expressed his thoughts about USC Upstate and more.

First, congrats to Upstate on a great year and their first regional championship appearance. [Head Coach] Chris [Hawkins] does a great job. The whole entire staff are just really good people, a classy bunch. I couldn't be happier for them. It stinks to send somebody home but that's what you do this time of year. You're trying to end peoples' careers, which is the hardest thing to do. This makes 21 [Regionals] in a row at home for us and we've lost four games in 21 years, which is unbelievable. It's a credit to the players and staff but the third component is our fan base and they brought it every single game this weekend.

Alabama will compete against No. 16 seed LSU in the upcoming Super Regional round, which will take place starting this Friday in Tuscaloosa. LSU for the second time in three years was crowned Regional Champions behind their victory over Virginia Tech 7-2.

Chase Brumfield is the morning producer and writer for Tide 100.9. He is a recent graduate from Mississippi State University as a Communications Major. Follow Chase for more Alabama content on X at @cb3864.