The Southeastern Conference announced its 2010 Softball Tournament field Sunday with the nationally third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide claiming the No. 1 seed. The tournament will be hosted by the University of Arkansas at Bogle Park, Thursday-Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.For the first time in SEC history, the entire tournament will be televised live on the ESPN family of networks. The quarterfinals and semifinals will air on ESPNU, while the championship game will air primetime on ESPN at 6:30 CT.
Alabama clinched its second SEC title with a 6-1 win over Mississippi State on Sunday and will make their 14th consecutive SEC Tournament appearance. Eastern Division champions, the Florida Gators earned the No. 2 seed and will also make their 14th consecutive SEC tournament appearance. All eight teams were in the tournament last season. The Kentucky Wildcats are making their second back-to-back appearance to the tournament, fourth overall.
On Thursday, the No. 3 seed LSU Tigers will open up the tournament against No. 6 seed Kentucky at 11 a.m. CDT, followed by No. 2 seed Florida and No. 7 seed Auburn at 1:30 p.m. The evening session will feature No. 4 Georgia vs. No. 5 seed Tennessee at 4 p.m., and the host school, No. 8 seed Arkansas, will take on No.1 seed Alabama in the nightcap at 6:30 p.m.
Covering the games will be ESPN’s softball crew of Beth Mowins, Michele Smith, Jessica Mendoza and Cara Capuano. SECSports.com will be live at the tournament as well, with exclusive online coverage behind the scenes.
The championship game can also be heard live on XM radio. The channel will be announced Monday. Tickets for the single-elimination tournament can be purchased through the Arkansas Athletic Ticket Office by calling 1-800-982-4647.
Friday's semifinals will be at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The championship game will be at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
