May 11, 2016

ESPNU Radio Live Stats Tournament Bracket Notes

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The regular season has come to an end which means it's time for postseason softball as Tennessee continues SEC Tournament play Friday at 3 p.m. ET in Starkville, Miss.

MORE INFO

2016 SEC Tournament

Opponent (Round): LSU Tigers (Semifinals)
Date & Time: Friday, May 13 | 3 p.m. ET
Venue: Nusz Park (Starkville, Miss.)
TV: ESPNU
Radio: WNML AM 990/UTSports.com

No. 10/9 Tennessee (41-13, 16-7 SEC)

Roster Schedule Stats

No. 12/13 LSU (44-14, 13-11 SEC)

Roster Schedule Stats

The third-seeded Volunteers with take on No. 7 seed LSU in the semifinals after defeating South Carolina, 5-1, in Thursday's quarterfinal game. LSU beat No. 2 seed Kentucky, 3-1, to advance to the semifinals.

Series Schedule/Media & Broadcast Info

Every game in the tournament will be broadcast on live television. All first round and quarterfinal games will air on the SEC Network, both semifinal games will be shown on ESPNU and Saturday's championship game will be broadcast on ESPN. Fans can also listen to Brian Rice call Tennessee's games on WNML AM 990.

View the full tournament schedule and bracket by clicking HERE. The Vols' potential game times are also listen below.

Quarterfinals: Thursday at 12 p.m. ET | TV: SEC Network | Radio: WNML AM 990 | Live Stats: UTSports.com

Semifinals (If Applicable): Friday at 3 p.m. ET | TV: ESPNU | Radio: WNML AM 990 | Live Stats: UTSports.com

Championship Game (If Applicable): Saturday at 5 p.m. ET | TV: ESPN | Radio: WNML AM 990 | Live Stats: UTSports.com

Need to Know

Tennessee secured the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament after taking two of three games from Ole Miss last weekend in Oxford. The Vols hit a program record four home runs to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning of Friday's series-opening win, including three straight jacks from Megan Geer, Meghan Gregg and Lexi Overstreet to start the frame. After dropping Game 2, 3-0, UT responded with a dominant 11-1 run-rule win in the series finale.

Freshman pitcher Matty Moss was dominant against the Rebels, earning both of the team's wins and allowing just one earned run in 11 total innings pitched. Moss, along with Aubrey Leach and Brooke Vines were all named to the SEC All-Freshman team on Tuesday.

Gregg and Gaffin also received All-SEC honors earlier this week, earning first and second-team recognition, respectively. Gaffin was also named to the SEC All-Defensive team for the second consecutive season.

The Vols are 4-3 in the SEC Tournament over the past three seasons and made a run to the final last year before falling to No. 2 seed Auburn in extra innings of the championship game. Gregg was phenomenal in last season's tournament run, batting .500 with a team-high seven hits, two home runs and five RBIs. Geer was also solid with a .308 average and a team-best six runs.

All-Time Series

Tennessee and LSU did not meet in the regular season this year, but the Vols hold a 28-24-1 advantage in the all-time series. The Tigers, who were ranked No. 1 in the country at the time, took the first two games from UT in last season's series in Knoxville, but the Vols bounced back to win the final game. Tennessee also went on to defeat LSU in the quarterfinals of last year's SEC Tournament in Baton Rouge by a score of 7-5.

What's Next?

With a win over the Tigers, the Vols would advance to the SEC Tournament championship game for the second straight season to play either Florida, Alabama or Auburn. Following the conference tournament, Tennessee is all but assured a spot in the NCAA regionals for the 13th straight season and will await their seeding that will be revealed on the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday evening.