Lady Vols Ready To Start SEC Tournament
The second-ranked and first-seeded Lady Vols will play No. 10 and eighth-seeded LSU on Thursday at 11 a.m. ET as they begin their journey at the 2024 SEC Tournament.
Tennessee – the reigning SEC tournament champions – earned the No. 1 seed after winning a second straight SEC regular season title.
BROADCAST INFO
Thursday's game will be televised on SEC Network with Kevin Brown (play-by-play), Amanda Scarborough (analyst) and Alyssa Lang (sideline) calling the action.
Fans can also listen to the Voice of Tennessee Softball, Brian Rice, call the action on the Vol Network via a free audio stream on UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics App.
NOTABLE
REMATCH
Tennessee will play LSU in its first game at the 2024 SEC Softball Tournament, marking a rematch against the Tigers.
UT and LSU played a three-game series in Knoxville earlier this season – with the Lady Vols taking the series two games to one.
SEC CHAMPIONS
UT enters the SEC Tournament as the regular-season champions – claiming back-to-back titles for the first time in program history. The Lady Vols have won three regular-season crowns (2007, 2023 & 2024) and three tournament titles (2007, 2011 & 2023).
Last season, Tennessee won both the regular season and tournament championships – claiming the double for the first time in Lady Vol history.
TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
This season marks the 24th time Tennessee has played in the SEC Softball Tournament. It holds a 33-26 record all-time and claims the third-highest winning percentage – trailing only Alabama and LSU who each enter the tournament for the 27th time in 2024.
WINDICATORS
The Lady Vols are 35-0 this season when leading after four innings. That success follows last season's when UT went 42-1 when holding the lead after four frames.
Tennessee is also 37-0 when it scores three-plus runs.
THIS IS THE WAY
Tennessee's pitching has been its catalyst all season long – led by sophomore
Karlyn Pickens and graduate
Payton Gottshall. The duo has led the charge for a pitching staff that owns the nation's second-best ERA at 1.47, claims 19 shutouts – third-best in Division I – and has a 4.45 strikeout-to-walk ratio that is No. 1 nationally.
SCOUTING LSU
Head Coach (Record at LSU): Beth Torina (531-234)
2024 Record: 39-14 (12-12 SEC)
Series Record: Tennessee leads 40-30-1
Last Meeting: W, 3-0 on 4/21/24 in Knoxville
Key Stat: LSU holds a 46-36 record in the SEC tournament with the second-most wins in the history of the league's tournament. The Tigers have made the tournament finals 11 times — the most of any SEC team.