Alabama
Florida softball vs. Alabama: Prediction for Women’s College World Series SEC showdown
The Gators will be playing for their season Sunday afternoon in Oklahoma City vs Alabama. Can Florida advance to the semis for the first time since 2017?
Two words will characterize the coming hours for Florida softball:
Quick turnaround.
If you expand it to three, another phrase comes to mind:
Flush it out.
That’s the boat the Gators find themselves in after their 10-0 loss to Texas in the second round of the Women’s College World Series on Saturday night in Oklahoma City.
The loss moved UF into the losers bracket, where it will face No. 14 Alabama Sunday at 3 p.m.
The Tide are riding high after staving off elimination of their own Friday night with a 2-1 win over Duke.
Here’s the keys to victory, along with a prediction:
Florida softball must rely on the past
Florida’s biggest asset this season has been its ability to bounce back from losses. It lost back-to-back games just once this season, to USF and then twice to Missouri April 10-13.
When UF suffered its most recent run-rule loss — 12-3 to FSU on April 24 — the Gators bounced back with an 11-6 win over Georgia.
More recently, Florida responded well after its 5-2 loss last Saturday to Baylor in the super regionals.
The squad spoke after that game about lessons learned from defeats, and that showed the following day with a 5-3 win over the Bears that sent UF to Oklahoma City.
Now, UF must dig into that bag of tricks once more.
“I think we’re going to control the vibes, keep the vibes loose, have fun,” Skylar Wallace said after Saturday’s loss. “We really have nothing to lose at this point. You just have to play softball.”
Avoid first inning troubles from Rothrock
When Tim Walton addressed the media postgame Saturday night, he said something obvious to most Gator fans about Keagan Rothrock.
“Typically when she goes good, she goes good. When she goes bad, she goes bad,” he said.
That idea reared its head Saturday when the freshman allowed two runs and three hits in the first before Walton pulled her in favor of Ava Brown.
That proved similar to the previous Saturday, when Rothrock was pulled in the first following three runs given up vs Baylor.
The next day, she made it through the first unscathed and pitched a beauty.
The same occurred Thursday in Florida’s eventual 1-0 win over Oklahoma State.
The opportunity is there Sunday vs a Bama offense that’s scored just three runs in two WCWS games. Rothrock just needs to take advantage.
Florida softball vs Alabama prediction
Florida 5, Alabama 3
After Saturday’s loss, UF faces a tall task to advance to its first championship series since 2017 as it must win three in a row.
I don’t see the road ending Sunday.
As mentioned, the Gators have shown a knack for recovering from losses. Rothrock should bounce back vs a Tide offense, and while Kayla Beaver is a phenomenal pitcher, Alabama isn’t the buzz saw that Texas or Oklahoma State is.
Wallace admitted that Bama is better than when UF won two of three from the Tide in mid-March.
But she acknowledged the Gators are better too, and that’ll show Sunday.
“We’re familiar with each other. We have a lot of film. We can reflect on that, see our goods, our bads, what can lead to us a good game plan and approach,” Wallace said.
Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun. Contact him at Nram@gannett.com and follow him @Noah_ram1 on Twitter.
SPANISH FORT, Ala. (WALA) – The YMCA of South Alabama held a Healthy Kids Day at Spanish Fort Town Center Park.
Saturday’s event featured games and demonstrations, along with interactive activities featuring police and fire vehicles.
“I think just seeing so many organizations come together that serve kids, and just seeing kids have fun,” said Gwen Summer, CEO of the YMCA of South Alabama.
Marissa Rennaker, director of development for the YMCA of South Alabama, said the event exposed children to new activities.
“I think it’s been seeing all the kids laugh and try different things that they probably haven’t tried before,” Rennaker said. “There was a big group doing pickleball and yoga. We had ballet earlier, so just getting them out and exposed to things, I think it’s been great.”
The event was designed to kick off a healthy, active summer.
The YMCA of South Alabama is located at 27080 Pollard Road in Daphne.
Copyright 2026 WALA. All rights reserved.
Former Alabama star Will Anderson Jr. has reportedly signed a three-year, $150 million extension with the Houston Texans, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Anderson instantly solidified himself as one of the top defensive players in football throughout his rookie campaign in 2023. The star defensive end was named as the Rookie of the Year in 2023, as Anderson’s extension will officially keep him in Houston long-term, as well as make him the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
Anderson recorded an impressive 12 sacks on the Texans’ defensive line in 2025, as the former Alabama star has made history following his head turning extension with Houston.
Anderson was nothing short of a superstar throughout his time at Alabama. Houston drafted the talented lineman with the third overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft, as Anderson was widely regarded as one of the top overall selections from his class.
The former Crimson Tide superstar has officially inked a massive extension with the Texans, as Anderson will undoubtedly continue playing a critical role on Houston’s defensive line over the coming seasons.
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Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said that No. 4 Texas would be “hungry” against the No. 11Crimson Tide coming off its first series loss of the season to Texas A&M.
The Longhorns certainly were, as they pounced all over Vaughn’s team, striking out 17 Alabama batters en route to a 10-2 win.
“The story of the game was they just kind of kicked our tail in every phase tonight,” Vaughn said.
Alabama starter Tyler Fay had been elite over his past four starts, dating back to his complete-game no-hitter against Florida, allowing just six earned runs over the 26.0 innings pitched in those games. That changed instantly on Friday evening, as leadoff batter Aiden Robbins opened the game with a double and catcher Carson Tinney took him deep for a two-run blast moments later.
Texas added a third run in the first off an Ethan Mendoza RBI double, setting the tone for a dominant day. Alabama did not record a hit until the fourth inning as Longhorn ace Dylan Volantis tore through batters, striking out 12 over six innings.
Fay ended up going 5.1 innings, just the second time he did not make it through the sixth. The other, against Auburn, was only due to Vaughn wanting to keep his pitch count down in the wake of the no-hitter. He allowed season-highs of seven earned runs and 12 hits in the loss.
The Longhorns added a run each in the third and the fifth, before Alabama put the slightest amount of pressure on Texas in the top of the sixth. Bryce Fowler and Justin Lebron scored on the basepaths off an error and a wild pitch, respectively, to cut the Texas lead to three runs.
“You’ve got to find ways to score,” Vaughn said. “Those two guys just created two runs for us, and did a great job creating those runs and we crawl back in at 5-2, and it’s like, ‘Let’s go back to work…’ So thought we had that chance in those middle innings.”
The Longhorns effectively put the game to bed in the next frame, responding with three runs as Fay was relieved by Connor Lehman. Texas would add two more runs on the day, with the only silver lining coming in the fact that Alabama avoided a run-rule.
The Crimson Tide has now lost four straight SEC games after winning three consecutive series. Zane Adams takes the mound with the series on the line on Saturday, in a game that has been moved up to 12 p.m. CT due to anticipated rain in Austin.
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