Tennessee's time at the Southeastern Conference softball tournament ended with a 10-2 mercy-rule loss to top-seeded Florida in the semifinals Friday afternoon in Columbia, Mo.
The Gators (49-8), ranked No. 4 nationally, will face third-seeded and 14th-ranked South Carolina in the title game tonight at 8 EDT. South Carolina (45-13) won 3-1 in the early semifinal against seventh-seeded and 19th-ranked Arkansas (39-15).
Eighth-ranked Tennessee (45-12), which did not face Florida in the regular season, trailed 7-0 before freshman Ashley Morgan's two-out double in the top of the third inning. Aubrey Leach and Meghan Gregg, who hit back-to-back one-out singles and moved to third base when Chelsea Seggern was hit by a pitch, scored on Morgan's hit.
The Gators added a run in the fourth and two in the fifth to bring the game to an early conclusion.
Florida outhit the Lady Volunteers just 6-5 but got two home runs from Nicole DeWitt that accounted for five runs, and the Gators were aided by Tennessee's nine walks and two errors. Tennessee starter Matty Moss walked eight batters in three innings before yielding to Caylan Arnold, who allowed the final four runs.
The Lady Vols now await their NCAA postseason seeding, which will be announced Sunday night. Regionals start next week, and teams seeded eighth or better that advance through that opening leg are in position to host super regionals.