One win separates Florida A&M softball from reaching the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament’s championship round.
The Rattlers (26-19) will face their former head coach Camise Patterson and the Alabama State Hornets (18-35) in the SWAC Tournament’s semifinals.
Originally scheduled for Friday, May 9, the game has been rescheduled due to rain to Saturday, May 10, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time at the Gulfport Sportsplex in Gulfport, Mississippi.
The winner of FAMU vs Alabama State will play against the defending league champions Jackson State (28-22) in the SWAC Championship game on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
THEY’RE NOT DONE YET!@FAMU_Softball advances to the next round of the 2025 SWAC Softball Championship. They will play Alabama State tomorrow at 10:30AM.#SWACSB pic.twitter.com/MxUVu4lBeR
Since the Jackson State Tigers haven’t lost a game in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament, FAMU or Alabama State will have to beat Jackson State twice to claim the SWAC trophy. The date and time of that game, if necessary, haven’t been announced yet.
The SWAC Tournament games are available on the SWAC Digital Network on YouTube.
The winner of the SWAC Softball Tournament gets an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which begins on May 16.
How did FAMU softball get to the SWAC Tournament semifinals?
FAMU entered the SWAC Tournament as a No. 1 seed for winning the East division.
The Rattlers won their tournament opener versus Grambling State in a walk-off 3-2 victory in nine innings on Tuesday, May 6. Then, FAMU dropped into the losers’ bracket by falling to Alabama State 7-3 on Wednesday, May 7.
But the Rattlers’ goal of a SWAC title remained intact.
The Rattlers played a doubleheader on Thursday, May 8.
They won two nail-biters by eliminating Texas Southern 1-0 and came back from down four runs to beat Bethune-Cookman 6-5 and advance to the SWAC semifinals.
“Quote It”: FAMU softball to face Alabama State to reach SWAC Championship
“It’s going to be a dogfight. They came out and jumped on us early [Wednesday]. We’re able to settle down and hopefully get some rest. Alabama State is a great team. We’re a great team, too,” said FAMU head coach Brittany Beall.
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Gerald Thomas, III is a multi-time award-winning journalist 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 SWAC Tournament: Rattlers to play for title game appearance vs Alabama State
Reporting by Gerald Thomas III, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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