KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee softball earned a No. 9 national seed on Sunday for the NCAA Softball Championships. The Lady Vols will host Eastern Kentucky, Liberty and James Madison as part of the Knoxville Regional. It's the 16th season in a row Tennessee has hosted a regional.
The double-elimination tournament starts on Friday in Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, with Liberty taking on James Madison at noon on ESPNU. Tennessee will face Eastern Kentucky at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN3/WatchESPN. The Lady Vols started its season with a doubleheader against Eastern Kentucky, beating the Colonels in both games.
The Lady Vols have made it to the NCAA tournament in 17 straight seasons, going every year the tournament has been played since 2004.
Tennessee enters the tournament with a 41-13 overall record (12-11 in SEC play). The Lady Vols defeated Texas A&M and SEC regular season Co-Champions Arkansas to advance to the SEC Tournament Semifinal, before falling to eventual SEC Tournament champion Alabama.
Four Lady Vols earned SEC postseason awards last week, led by pitcher Ashley Rogers and center fielder Kiki Milloy, who were named to the All-SEC First Team. Milloy was also named to the SEC Newcomer Team.
Ashley Morgan earned All-SEC Second Team honors, while graduate student Cailin Hannon was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The rest of the regional will be determined by the results of Friday's game, but here's an early look at how things will shape up for the weekend:
Saturday
Game 3: G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner | 12 p.m.
Game 4: G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser | 2:30 p.m.
Game 5: G3 Loser vs. G4 Winner | 5 p.m.
Sunday
Game 6: G3 Winner vs. G5 Winner | 12 p.m.
Game 7: G6 Winner vs. G6 Loser (If necessary) | 2:30 p.m.