No. 7 seed Florida powered its way to the SEC Tournament semifinals with an 11-6 win over No. 11 seed Alabama in an elimination game.

Saturday morning started off with a bang at the Hoover Met. Florida put 4 runs on the board in the top of the 1st inning, including Wyatt Langford’s first of 2 home runs. Alabama erased the early UF lead with 4 runs of its own, including a 3-run shot from Zane Denton. The Gators added runs in the 2nd and 3rd inning, making it 6-4. Once again, though, the Crimson Tide answered. A 2-run shot from Williamson made it a whole new ballgame at 6-6.

With 12 runs through 3 innings, it looked as though both teams were hurting for pitching on Day 5 of the tournament. Alabama’s starter, Grant McMillan went just 1.2 innings, allowing 5 earned runs on 5 hits. Florida starter Anthony Ursitti was tagged for 6 earned runs over 2.2 innings, giving up 5 hits.

The scoring, however, slowed down for a bit as just 1 run crossed the plate in innings 4-8. In the top of the 9th, UF added 4 insurance runs on 2 hits, including a 3-run jack from Mac Guscette.

For Florida, Nick Ficarrotta tossed 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 6 over 97 pitches to get the win in a standout performance.

Saturday’s early win boosts Florida’s NCAA Tournament resume as the Gators hope the strong showing in Hoover results in getting to host a regional. Through Friday’s games, UF’s RPI was No. 21 overall. Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad is 38-21 overall heading into Saturday’s rematch with Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament semifinals. The Aggies run-ruled UF to win 10-0 in 7 innings on Thursday.

Alabama will be scoreboard watching the next couple of days. D1 Baseball projected Alabama as the last team in the field of 64 entering Saturday’s SEC Tournament elimination game.

The NCAA Tournament selection show is Monday.