Missouri Softball Chomped by Florida in SEC Tournament Championship

Although No. 5-seeded Missouri softball entered Saturday's SEC Championship game with a ton of momentum, the Tigers saw all of it evaporate under the hot, sunny skies of Auburn, Al.

No. 2 seed Florida dominated Missouri 6-1 in a game that featured the Tigers, who hadn't trailed throughout the entire SEC Tournament, go down from the get-go.

After an uneventful first inning, the Gators threw a mean first punch in the bottom of the second.

The punch was set up in part due to Missouri's defense playing uncharacteristically poorly. The top of the second started with the normally sure-handed Jenna Laird booting a ground ball, allowing Reagan Walsh to reach base. The next batter, Katie Kistler, hit a high pop-up into shallow center field. Laird looked to settle under it, but then vacated the area, as she thought Alex Honnold would catch it. The only issue was that Honnold thought Laird would do the same, and the ball dropped harmlessly in-between the two.

A couple of batters later, Julia Crenshaw let a pitch get past her, allowing the runners on first and second advance a base. Then, with two strikes and two outs, Laurin Krings left a ball right over the heart of the plate to Mia Williams.

Out of all nine members of Florida's starting lineup, Williams would likely be considered the most unlikely to hit a home run. She'd hit just two home runs entering the SEC Tournament and sported just a .172 batting average.

She hit the ball over the scoreboard in left center field.

The next inning saw more sloppy fielding from the Tigers. After Korbe Otis led off the inning with a triple into right center field, Skylar Wallace hit a routine ground ball to Maddie Gallagher. She's been one of the best fielders in the SEC this season, as her surehandedness has been complimented many times this season by coaches and players.

Gallagher bobbled the ball, allowing Otis to score and Wallace to reach base safely.

The Tigers cut into the lead ever-so-slightly, as Stefania Abruscato hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth. However, the Gators extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth courtesy of another longball, this time courtesy of Wallace. Alex Honnold couldn't jump high enough, and Florida took a 6-1 lead that it would never relinquish.

Freshman star pitcher Keagan Rothrock cruised for most of the afternoon, as Missouri never sent more than five batters to the plate in one inning. Florida's defense was also excellent, which included a leaping catch in center field by Kendra Falby that robbed Jenna Laird of an extra-base hit.

The win marks Florida's sixth SEC Tournament title and greatly increases their chances of earning a top-eight seed. Missouri's hopes of achieving the same took a hit, although the teams ranked behind them in RPI (MU is ranked sixth) might've helped the Tigers.

Tennessee (7) and Georgia (8) were eliminated before Missouri. Louisiana (9) was upset by Texas State in the Sun Belt title game earlier in the day, and Oklahoma State (10) fell before their conference title game. Stanford (5) was also upset in the semifinals of their conference tournament by Utah.

Missouri's fate now rests in the hands of the NCAA selection committee. Selection Sunday begins at 7 p.m. CST.