Alabama softball is one win away from advancing to the Women's College World Series for the 16th time under Patrick Murphy.
The Crimson Tide kicked off the Tuscaloosa Super Regional with a dominant 7-0 win over LSU. Jocelyn Briski retired 21 consecutive batters after allowing a leadoff double, while striking out 11 Tigers.
Alabama's offense did more than enough, highlighted by a home run from Alexis Pupillo and a three-run double by Jena Young.
Now, Alabama is on the brink of Oklahoma City, needing just one win with two opportunities over LSU to get there.
In the NCAA Tournament, Alabama has been cruising. With a dominant showing in the Regional round and the 7-0 win over LSU, Murphy's club has won four games in the tournament by a combined score of 27-0.
And in the opening games of the Super Regionals, the Crimson Tide got some help from around the country.
Oklahoma and Texas drop Super Regional games, increasing Alabama's championship chances
Both Oklahoma and Texas suffered stunning losses to open the Supers.
Oklahoma led Mississippi State 6-2 going into the 6th inning, but the Bulldogs plated four runs to tie the game. A Kendall Wells 3-run homer put the Sooners back up 9-6, but State plated five runs in the top of the 7th to push ahead 11-9, which is where the game would end.
The Sooners came into the tournament as the odds-on favorite to win the National Championship. If the Bulldogs can win one more game and spring a significant upset, that would do a huge favor to every other team in the field.
So, too, would defending national champion Texas going down.
The Longhorns' powerful lineup was stifled against Arizona State in Game 1 of the Supers. Texas managed just four hits and one run against Kenzie Brown, and the Sun Devils pulled out a stunning 4-1 win that puts the Horns on the brink of elimination.
Alabama entered the NCAA Tournament tied for the third-best odds to win the national championship at +500. Texas was also at +500, with Oklahoma and Texas Tech with the top two odds.
Oklahoma and Texas can still battle back, but if both get knocked out in the Supers, the path to Alabama capturing its second national title would be a whole lot clearer.
Murphy and his team won't worry about that, though. The only thing that matters for them is beating LSU one more time. They can only control what they can control.
They'll look to punch their own ticket to OKC on Saturday at 2 pm CT.
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