University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Earns No. 13 National Seed in NCAA Tournament
May 15, 2016 | Softball
NCAA Tournament Bracket 
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee softball will open NCAA Tournament play by hosting a regional at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium for the 12th time in program history.
The Vols earned the No. 13 national seed and will host Arizona, Ohio State and Marist at Lee Stadium in the NCAA Knoxville Regional this weekend from May 20-22. This will be the 14th NCAA Tournament appearance overall and the 13th consecutive appearance for the Volunteers, who have advanced to the postseason every season since 2004. This will also mark the 12th straight year that Tennessee has earned a national seed and hosted an NCAA regional in Knoxville.
UT was one of 11 teams from the Southeastern Conference to be selected to the 64-team tournament field. The SEC made up half of the national seeds, with eight teams earning a spot among the top 16 seeds in this year's tournament.
The Big Orange enter the NCAA Tournament with a 41-14 overall record and finished third in the SEC regular season standings, posting a 16-7 mark in league play. The Vols had five players earn SEC postseason honors last week, led by sophomore shortstop Meghan Gregg, who was named All-SEC first team for the first time in her career. Senior Rainey Gaffin was named All-SEC second team and was also named to the SEC All-Defensive team for the second straight season. Matty Moss, Aubrey Leach and Brooke Vines all earned spots on the SEC All-Freshman team.
The Knoxville Regional will be a double-elimination tournament with the winner moving on to the NCAA Super Regionals (Round of 16). Tennessee will play Marist on Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 while Arizona will take on Ohio State to begin play on Friday at 4:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Friday's two winners will play in Game 3 on Saturday at 12 p.m. The losers from Friday's games will play in Game 4 at 2:30 p.m., and the loser from Game 3 will face the winner from Game 4 at 5 p.m. to conclude play on Saturday.
Game 6 will be on Sunday at 12 p.m. and will feature the winner from Game 3 against the winner from Game 5. The two teams will play again in Game 7 at 2:30 p.m., if necessary.
The 16 winning teams from their respective regional sites will advance the Super Regionals, which will take place from May 26-29, depending on the host site. All Super Regional sites will feature broadcasts on the ESPN family of networks.
Weekend Schedule
Friday
Game 1: Arizona vs. Ohio State | 4:30 p.m. | ESPNU
Game 2: Tennessee vs. Marist | 7 p.m. | ESPN2
Saturday
Game 3: G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner | 12 p.m.
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 | 12 p.m.
Game 7: G6 Winner vs. G6 Loser (If necessary) | 2:30 p.m.
Ticket Information
All-Session tickets will go on sale to the general public at 8:30 a.m. Monday, May 16. Tickets will be $25 for bleacherback seats, which will be good for all games that weekend.
Season ticket holders have until noon on Tuesday, May 17 to purchase their season locations. Any season locations that are not purchased by the deadline will be released and available for purchase by the general public at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
If any chairback seats are available at that time they will be $40 for the entire weekend. Based on All-Session sales, single game tickets will go on sale Friday when gates open at the stadium.
