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Patrick Murphy Provides Updates on Pitcher Vic Moten for NCAA Tournament

Alabama's freshman pitcher exited the SEC tournament championship game after taking a ball off her body.
Katie Windham|
Alabama pitcher Vic Moten pitches in the Crimson Classic game against St Thomas on Mar. 1, 2026.
Alabama pitcher Vic Moten pitches in the Crimson Classic game against St Thomas on Mar. 1, 2026. | Sarah Munzenmaier/Alabama Crimson Tide on SI

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama freshman Vic Moten started the Crimson Tide's first game of the season in place of an injured Jocelyn Briski, and she proved right away the type of impact she was going to have on Team 30.

Behind a 49-7 record, the Crimson Tide is now the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament and will be hosting a regional at Rhoads Stadium this weekend, but there were some concerns about Moten's status after she exited the SEC tournament championship game with a hard shot up the middle off her body.

Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy shut down any concerns, saying the freshman pitcher is fully cleared to go.

"She's good," Murphy said. "She's a tough cookie."

Moten was participating in the drills with all the other pitchers during Thursday's NCAA regional practice at Rhoads Stadium and did not appear to be limited in any way.

The freshman pitcher picked up the complete-game win for the Crimson Tide in the run-rule victory over Florida in the semifinals of the SEC tournament, only allowing one run on three hits against a powerful Gator offense. She was lifted after 2.1 innings of relief against Texas.

On the season, Moten is 19-4 with a 1.73 ERA and 158 strikeouts in 29 appearances. She was Alabama's typical Game 2 starter in SEC weekend series and stepped up for Alabama in big moments as a true freshman. Moten and Briski combined to start 23 of Alabama's 24 SEC games during the regular season.

With her performance this year, Moten earned her weekly honors from the SEC twice: once as SEC Pitcher of the Week and once as SEC Freshman of the Week. She was also named a top-10 finalist for NFCA Freshman of the Year, which is a national award given out by the coaches association.

The Crimson Tide also has freshman Kaitlyn Pallozzi, sophomore Braya Hodges and senior Alea Johnson available in the bullpen behind Moten and Briski. As per usual, Murphy did not announce his pitching plan for the weekend, but it is likely that Moten will get at least one start during the Crimson Tide's games.

Alabama opens NCAA tournament play on Friday at noon CT on SEC Network against USC Upstate. The regional round is double elimination.

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Katie Windham
KATIE WINDHAM

Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball, gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports.

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