SB Preview: No. 1 Seed Lady Vols set to take on No. 8 seed LSU

AUBURN, Ala. – Second- and top-seeded Lady Vols will face No. 10 and eighth-seeded LSU on Thursday at 11 a.m. ET as they begin their journey to the 2024 SEC Tournament.

Tennessee – the defending SEC Tournament champion – earned the No. 1 seed after winning a second straight SEC regular season title.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

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 Vol Network via a free audio stream on UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics app.

NOTABLE
REMATCH

Tennessee will face 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 champion – winning back-to-back titles for the first time in program history. The Lady Vols have won three regular season crowns (2007, 2023 and 2024) and three tournament titles (2007, 2011 and 2023).

Last season, Tennessee won both the regular season and tournament championships, winning the double for the first time in Lady Vol history.

TOURNAMENT SUCCESS

This season marks the 24th time Tennessee has participated in the SEC softball tournament. It holds an all-time record of 33-26 and boasts the third-highest winning percentage – behind Alabama and LSU who are each entering the tournament for the 27th time in 2024.

BLINKERS

The Lady Vols are 35-0 this season as they lead after four innings. This success follows last season, when UT went 42-1 while holding the lead after four frames.

Tennessee is also 37-0 when scoring more than three points.

THIS IS THE WAY

Tennessee’s pitchers were his catalyst all season long – led by a sophomore Karlyn Pickens and graduated Payton Gottshall. The duo has led the charge for a pitching staff that owns the nation’s second-best ERA at 1.47, boasts 19 shutouts — third best in Division I — and has a 4.45 strikeout-to-walk ratio that is the 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 04/21/24 in Knoxville

Key statistic: LSU holds a 46-36 record in the SEC tournament with the second most wins in league tournament history. The Tigers have reached the tournament finals 11 times – the most of any team in the SEC.