The Lady Vols have won the SEC title the past two times they've made the finals.
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Erin Gabriel was masterful in the circle and RBI singles by Scarlet McSwain and Tory Lewis were all the offense No. 11 Tennessee would need on Friday to defeat No. 2 Florida 2-1 and punch its third ticket to the SEC tournament title game.
Tennessee will face Auburn in the SEC tournament championship game on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. Tennessee is 2-0 in SEC tournament championship games, taking home the tourney titles in 2006 and 2011.
Gabriel (15-6) kept the Florida offense in check, worked her way out of jams and fanned 10 Gators in an impressive six-inning showing against the tournament's No. 1 seed. Rainey Gaffin picked up the save after throwing a perfect seventh.
Six different Lady Vols recorded a hit in the win.
Florida ace Lauren Haeger took the loss after giving up two runs in five innings. Delanie Gourley threw two scoreless relief frames.
Tennessee took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning thanks to a pair of two-out RBI singles by McSwain and Lewis. With runners on second and third, McSwain knocked a single down the left field line to plate Megan Geer. Lewis added to that lead when she ripped an RBI single through the left side to score Meghan Gregg.
Florida scored its lone run of the game in the bottom of the sixth when Taylor Fuller hit a solo home run to center field to cut UT's lead in half.
Florida left eight runners on base as Gabriel and the UT defense worked out of jams in the first inning (two LOB) and third inning (three LOB).
