Tennessee softball bounced in SEC Tournament Quarterfinals by LSU

After earning the 1-seed in the event by winning the SEC Regular Season title, the Lady Vols earned a bye all the way into the quarterfinals. Against 8-seed LSU, Tennessee didn't have enough offense to move past the Tigers.

The Lady Vols fell 2-1 in the pitching duel that was delayed by seven hours due to weather.

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Tennessee (40-10) struggled to gain traction at the plate against LSU (40-15) pitchers Kelley Lynch and Syden Berzon. The Lady Vols totaled just five hits, three walks and a hit-by pitch. Berzon tossed 2.1 frames after throwing 14 innings the day before and 208 pitches.

The lone run came from Sophia Nugent who drove in Amanda Ahlin who pinch-ran for Zaida Puni.

In the circle, Karyln Pickens got the start before being pulled for Payton Gottshall. However, Pickens returned to finish the game. The sophomore finished with one allowed run in five total innings of pitching. Gottshall tossed two innings and allowed one run on three hits and a walk.

This eliminates Tennessee from the single-elimination tournament. The Lady Vols had won back-to-back SEC Regular Season championships and were looking to repeat as SEC Tournament champions after winning the event a year ago, as well.

Tennessee is still in line to be a top-eight seed in the NCAA Tournament which would set itself up for a chance to host the first two rounds. The Lady Vols are ranked as the No. 3 team in the country by DI Softball and shouldn't take much, if any, of a tumble in the polls.

After making a Women's College World Series appearance a year ago, Tennessee will have the chance to go to consecutive WCWS for the first time since 2012-13. It has previously made the event eight times.

The Lady Vols will find out their official seeding and bracket on May 12 at 7 p.m. ET. The selection show will air on ESPN2.

The first round of the tournament spans from May 16/17-19. Super Regionals for the 16 teams to advance will be held either May 23-25 or May 24-26. The WCWS begins on May 30. The championship best-of-three kicks off on June 5.

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