Lady Vols seeded 10th for NCAA softball tournament

Tennessee junior Aubrey Leach, shown during a home game against LSU last month, leads the Lady Vols with a .568 on-base percentage this season. The SEC softball tournament began Wednesday in Columbia, Mo., but Tennessee had a bye and begins play today against LSU. (Photo by Austin Perryman/University of Tennessee Athletics)
Tennessee junior Aubrey Leach, shown during a home game against LSU last month, leads the Lady Vols with a .568 on-base percentage this season. The SEC softball tournament began Wednesday in Columbia, Mo., but Tennessee had a bye and begins play today against LSU. (Photo by Austin Perryman/University of Tennessee Athletics)

KNOXVILLE - Tennessee did not get one of the top eight overall seeds it was hoping for, but it will host an NCAA softball regional for the 14th consecutive season this weekend.

The Division I tournament bracket was released late Sunday night with Tennessee (45-12) earning the No. 10 overall seed. All 13 teams from the Southeastern Conference qualified for the tournament for a second straight year.

Florida (No. 2 seed), Georgia (No. 7 seed) and South Carolina (No. 9 seed) were the three teams from the SEC that earned higher seeds than the Lady Volunteers. Their seedings reflected the order in which they finished in the league's regular-season standings.

Tennessee lost to Florida in the SEC tournament semifinals last Friday.

The double-elimination Knoxville regional will start Friday and also include Ohio, James Madison and Monmouth.

Ohio and James Madison open the regional on Friday at 3 p.m., followed by Tennessee vs. Monmouth at 5:30. Both games will be shown on the WatchESPN streaming service. The television schedule for the games Saturday and Sunday has not yet been announced.

Should Tennesssee advance to the super regional round, as it has in nine of the past 13 seasons, the Lady Vols likely would travel to face Georgia in a best-of-three super regional.

Georgia is the No. 7 seed on Tennessee's side of the bracket and hosting a regional in Athens that includes Northwestern, California and Harvard.

Tennessee lost two of three games to Georgia in the regular season. That was during a stretch of three consecutive series losses. The Lady Vols rebounded to close the regular season with four straight series victories.

Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Friday

Game 1: Ohio vs. James Madison, 3 p.m. (ESPN3/WatchESPN)

Game 2: Monmouth vs. Tennessee, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN3/WatchESPN)

Saturday

Game 3: G1 winner vs. G2 winner, noon

Game 4: G1 loser vs. G2 loser, 2:30 p.m.

Game 5: G3 loser vs. G4 winner, 5 p.m.

Sunday

Game 6: G3 winner vs. G5 winner, 1 p.m.

Game 7: G6 winner vs. G6 loser (if necessary), 3:30 p.m.

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