OKLAHOMA CITY — Jocelyn Erickson came up big and earned a shot at her former softball team.
Erickson homered and drove in four runs, and NCAA tournament No. 4 seed Florida beat No. 14 Alabama 6-4 on Sunday night to advance to the Women's College World Series semifinals and eliminate the Crimson Tide.
Florida will play three-time reigning national champion Oklahoma in the semifinals Monday. Erickson's Gators (53-14) will have to beat the second-seeded Sooners (56-6) twice to reach the best-of-three championship series, while Oklahoma will need just one win to move on.
The matchup is set for noon on ESPN, and if a second game is necessary, it would follow soon after the first.
Erickson, a catcher, won a national championship with Oklahoma last season.
"I think it's going to be fun seeing some old friends," Erickson said. "It's going to be definitely a competitive semifinals, so we're getting after it."
Erickson broke a tie with Megan Bush for the school's single-season RBI record and now has 84. Bush set the previous record of 80 in 2011.
Ariel Kowalewski and Korbe Otis each added two hits for the Gators in a game that started three hours late because of rain and lightning.
Florida pitcher Keagan Rothrock recovered from a rough outing against top-seeded Texas the previous night. The freshman gave up three earned runs on seven hits against Alabama and now is alone as the nation's leader with 32 wins.
"I think she turned the page," Erickson said. "She was hitting her spots better, more focused, more determined. It's a learning curve yesterday. It's her freshman year. I'm really proud of her for turning the page."
AP photo by Brandon Wade / Alabama's Bailey Dowling bats during a Women's College World Series game against UCLA on Thursday in Oklahoma City.Kayla Beaver got the start for Alabama and gave up two runs on six hits in four innings. Jocelyn Briski took the loss in relief for the Tide (39-20).
Alabama finished ninth in the Southeastern Conference during the regular season but won its NCAA regional at home, then beat No. 3 seed Tennessee — the SEC regular-season champ — on the road in a best-of-three super regional. Alabama lost its WCWS opener to No. 6 seed UCLA, then beat No. 10 Duke to keep the season alive.
"It's a team whose legacy is going to be they didn't give up on each other, they kept working," Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said. "Doesn't matter what you do regular season, you get a whole new start and you can start fresh. I think they proved to everybody that it's not how you start, it's how you finish."
Florida beat Alabama for the third time in four meetings this year, with the Gators having won two of three at Tuscaloosa during an SEC regular-season series.
In the rematch at the WCWS, Alabama opened the scoring against Florida in the second inning Sunday night. Bailey Dowling got on after a fielding error, and she scored on a grounder by Riley Valentine.
Florida tied it in the third when Erickson's single knocked in Skylar Wallace. Otis scored on a fielder's choice after getting on with a walk to put the Gators up 2-1.
Alabama tied it at 2 in the third when Marlie Giles singled to score Lauren Johnson. Reagan Walsh singled and knocked in a run in the fifth to put Florida back in front.
Erickson came up with runners on first and third with two outs in the sixth, and Alabama switched from Briski to Alea Johnson in the circle to give her a different look. Erickson took a Johnson pitch over the wall in center field to make it 6-2.
Alabama hung tough, and Kali Heivilin's RBI single in the sixth made it 6-4, but Rothrock put the Tide down in order in the seventh.
Now the Gators will try to derail Oklahoma's attempt to become the first NCAA Division I softball team to win four straight national titles.
"I'm excited for the matchup," Florida coach Tim Walton said. "You come to the Women's College World Series, you get an opportunity to play Oklahoma, you're doing something right. I am looking forward to it."