Longhorns the No. 3 seed in SEC softball tournament, earn double bye
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns softball team ended its regular season with a series sweep of Kentucky and heads into the Southeastern Conference tournament in Athens, Georgia, as the No. 3 seed Thursday.
As a top-four seed, Texas gets the first two days of the tournament off and begins play at 4 p.m. CDT Thursday, possibly against sixth-seeded Florida, 11th-seeded Ole Miss or 14th-seeded Missouri. Ole Miss and Missouri meet Tuesday in the first round, with the winner advancing to play the Gators in the second round Wednesday.
A win in the quarterfinals could set up a semifinal battle between the Longhorns and second-seeded Texas A&M, assuming they also win their quarterfinal game. It would be the first time the Lone Star Showdown rivals have met this season.
Oklahoma is the tournament's top seed with Tennessee earning the other two-round bye as the No. 4 seed.
Texas finished with a 16-8 SEC record and was the best hitting team in the conference with a .356 average over its entire season. During SEC play, the Longhorns were the only team in the conference with a batting average above .300 at .309.
The first three rounds of the tournament will air on the SEC Network, with the semifinals on ESPN2. The championship game will be on ESPN at 4 p.m., Saturday. The winner of the tournament gets the SEC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.