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UK softball team enters SEC Tournament trying to keep alive long streak of NCAA berths

Lexington Herald-Leader
·2 min read

The University of Kentucky softball team has qualified for the NCAA Tournament 14 years in a row, but the Wildcats might have some work to do in this week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament to keep that streak alive in 2024.

The Wildcats enter the five-day single-elimination tourney at Auburn, Alabama, as the No. 12 seed in the No. 13-team league.

Sounds bad, right?

Yes, it wouldn’t hurt the Cats (30-21 overall, 8-16 SEC) to secure a few more quality wins before the NCAA Selection Show, but two points work in Kentucky’s favor:

1. Last season, all 13 SEC teams qualified for the 64-team NCAA Tournament;

2. Entering last weekend, Kentucky was No. 27 in the national Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).

Kentucky takes on No. 13 seed Ole Miss (30-24, 7-17) in the SEC Tournament opener on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on the SEC Network. UK and Ole Miss did not meet during the regular season.

The winner of that game advances to a Wednesday matchup with No. 5 seed Missouri (40-14, 13-11).

The Wildcats enter the postseason on a four-game losing streak, three of those defeats coming this past weekend at No. 3 Tennessee. The Volunteers are the No. 1 seed in the SEC tourney.

SEC Softball Tournament

At Auburn, Ala.

All times Eastern

Tuesday

▪ 7 p.m.: No. 12 seed Kentucky vs. No. 13 Mississippi (SEC Network)

Wednesday

▪ 11 a.m.: No. 8 LSU vs. No. 9 Alabama (SEC Network)

▪ 2 p.m.: No. 5 Missouri vs. Kentucky-Mississippi winner (SEC Network)

▪ 5 p.m.: No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 10 Auburn (SEC Network)

▪ 8 p.m.: No. 6 Mississippi State vs. No. 11 South Carolina (SEC Network)

Thursday

▪ 11 a.m. No. 1 Tennessee vs. LSU-Alabama winner (SEC Network)

▪ 2 p.m.: No. 4 Arkansas vs. Missouri-Kentucky-Mississippi winner (SEC Network)

▪ 5 p.m.: No. 2 Florida vs. Georgia-Auburn winner (SEC Network)

▪ 8 p.m.: No. 3 Texas A&M vs. Mississippi State-South Carolina winner (SEC Network)

Friday

▪ Semifinals at 4 and 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Saturday

▪ 5 p.m.: Championship game (ESPN2)