Florida A&M softball is going to the ‘ship.
The one-seed Rattlers (31-19) eliminated the three-seed Texas Southern with a 3-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal victory on Thursday, May 7, at Gulfport Sportsplex.
Neriah Lee led FAMU with four hits, and Jordan Douglas contributed a homerun. Zoryana Hughes pitched the entire seven-inning game and struck out three.
Friday, May 8’s SWAC Championship round will be the Rattlers’ third consecutive appearance and Brittany Beall’s second straight as the program’s head coach.
“It’s been a great season,” Beall told the SWAC TV broadcast after advancing to the championship round. “Just to see all the hard work come into this moment right now ― it’s humbling as a coach.”
The Rattlers’ title game opponent is not decided yet.
They will face the winner of Friday’s elimination game between No. 2 Southern (35-14) and Texas Southern (30-11), two teams FAMU has already beaten during the tournament. The Rattlers’ potential championship foes will meet on Friday at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time to determine who moves on.
The SWAC Championship begins on Friday at 3:30 p.m. However, if FAMU doesn’t win Friday, a winner-takes-all game is scheduled for Saturday, May 8, at noon.
The Rattlers look to earn their first conference title and NCAA Tournament berth since winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship in 2017.
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Gerald Thomas, III, is a multi-time national award-winning reporter for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat.
Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at GDThomas@Tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU softball knocking on door of first SWAC Tournament championship
Reporting by Gerald Thomas III, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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