Riley Valentine opened Game 3 of the Knoxville Super Regional with a strong message.

Following No. 14 seed Alabama softball's 4-1 victory over rival No. 3 seed Tennessee to advance to the Women's College World Series, Valentine delivered another strong message about her Crimson Tide in a postgame interview with ESPN.

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“I think [Alabama coach Patrick Murphy] said it best: ‘Never count out Alabama,’” Valentine said in a postgame interview while Kali Heivilin decorated her teammate with a crown and a palm tree behind her.

“This is the type of moment we’re made for. We bend, but we don’t break; we come together, and we’re going to rise for the occasion and find a way to get it done. It doesn’t matter if it takes 10 innings, 14 innings, five innings, nine innings, seven innings, it doesn’t matter, we’ll find a way and get it done.”

The victory clinched Alabama's second straight spot in the WCWS and the 15th in program history. The Crimson Tide (38-18) will open against No. 6 seed UCLA at 11 a.m. CT on Thursday, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN. Alabama is seeking its first national championship since 2012 and the second in program history.

“We’re not done yet,” Valentine said. “We’re going to take our seniors on a magic carpet ride and we just want to get them to the world series. We’re going to do whatever it takes and we just all came together and found a way to get it done.”

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Alabama softball's path to the Women's College World Series

The Crimson Tide closed the regular season by losing its last four SEC series. It then fell to LSU on the first day of the SEC Tournament, making it unlikely Alabama would host another regional at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

However, many were shocked when the Crimson Tide was picked as the No. 14 seed, one of the final three seeds to host the first round of the 2024 NCAA Softball Tournament games. Alabama won three straight games over USC Upstate and Southeastern Louisiana (twice) to advance to the Knoxville Super Regional. Still, the Crimson Tide was the heavy underdog against the regular-season SEC champions and a team that had taken two out of three games from them in the regular season in Tuscaloosa.

Tennessee won Game 1, opening the possibility of a sweep. But Alabama won Game 2 in 14 innings, and Valentine's early grand slam before a lengthy rain delay on Sunday helped lead the Crimson Tide to victory (after withstanding a seventh-inning comeback attempt by the Lady Vols).

"We just have to find a way to keep the game fun. We have to keep loose and just play for each other,” Valentine said as teammate Heivilin held up a bracket and Bailey Dowling held up the trophy next to her.

“This is a game we have been playing since we were 12 years old and it’s a game we love. So, we’re just going to come together and find a way to get it done. We’re just a gritty group of girls that will find a way to scratch and claw our way to the world series, and we did it.”

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Riley Valentine after beating Tennessee softball: 'Never count out Alabama'