2024 SEC Softball Tournament set, Lady Vols No. 1 seed

The 2024 SEC Softball Tournament field is set.

Fresh off winning the league’s regular season title for the second-straight year, No. 1 seed Tennessee will look to do the same in the conference tournament at Auburn’s Jane B. Moore Field later this week.

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The Lady Vols entered the final weekend of the regular season in reach of the SEC crown, needing a few wins against Kentucky and some help elsewhere in the league.

Tennessee (40-9, 19-5 SEC) clinched a share of the championship with a come-from-behind win over the Wildcats on Friday. Texas A&M’s loss to Florida an hour later made the Lady Vols outright champions for the second time in as many seasons.

Tennessee completed the sweep of Kentucky on Saturday, claiming their third SEC series sweep this season.

Auburn will host the SEC Softball Tournament, which is set begin on Tuesday.

As the top seed, Tennessee will get a two-game bye before playing Thursday night. The first nine games of the single-elimination tournament will air on SEC Network with the semifinals and championship game airing on ESPN2.

The tournament opens with 12-seed Kentucky and 13-seed Ole Miss in Game 1 at 7 p.m. ET.

Game 2 will feature 6-seed Mississippi State and 11-seed South Carolina at 11 a.m. Wednesday, followed by 7-seed Georgia and 10-seed in Game 3 35 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2.

The winner of Game 1 will face 5-seed Missouri in Game 4 at 5 p.m. with Game 4 between 8-seed LSU and 9-seed Alabama capping the second round 35 minutes later.

Game 6 starts Thursday morning at 11 a.m. with 1-seed Tennessee going up against the winner of Game 2 with Game 7 between 4-seed Arkansas and the Game 3 winner following 35 minutes after.

Game 8 between 2-seed Florida and the Game 4 winner begins at 5 p.m. and 3-seed Texas A&M will play the Game 5 winner in the late-game slot 35 minutes after the conclusion of Game 8.

The semifinals are set for Friday at 4 p.m. with the winners of Game 6 and 7 playing first and the Game 8 and 9 winners following for a spot in the championship game on Saturday.

The tournament championship final is slated for 5 p.m.

Tennessee ended a 16-year conference championship drought last season, winning the league's regular season crown and then followed it up with its first tournament championship in more than a decade.

That Lady Vols team, which beat South Carolina in the SEC Tournament Championship game, swept through NCAA regionals and super regionals to reach the Women's College World Series for the first time in eight years.

Winning the tournament in back-to-back seasons would be a program first, but Tennessee finds itself in good position to pull it off.

The Lady Vols won all eight of its conference series during the regular season behind pitching duo Payton Gottshall and Karlyn Pickens, who both rank in the top 10 nationally in ERA at 1.00 and 1.17, respectively.

Tennessee ranks third in the country in total shutouts with 19.

At the plate, Tennessee is paced by star outfielder Kiki Milloy, who has accounted for a team-high 12 home runs along with 29 RBIs, 12 doubles and two triples. The graduate senior leads the team in batting average (.365), runs (59), on-base percentage (.471) and stolen bases (24).

Milloy became the program's all-time home run leader in February and has 68 in her career.

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