Bracket Set For 2004 SEC Softball Tournament
May 25, 2016 | Softball
Seventh-Seeded Bulldogs To Face SEC East Champion Tennessee In Opener
STARKVILLE, Miss. ?- Seventh-seeded Mississippi State will face No. 2 seed and SEC Eastern Division champion Tennessee in the opening round of the 2004 SEC Tournament which begins Thursday, May 13, at the Alabama Softball Complex in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Bulldogs (35-22, 14-15 SEC) and Lady Vols (49-12, 20-8) will play the second game of the tournament at 1:30 p.m., preceded by third-seeded Georgia and No. 6 seed Florida in the tournament opener at 11 a.m. The first round will be concluded by a 5 p.m. Thursday matchup between top-seeded LSU and eighth-seeded South Carolina, followed by fourth-seeded Auburn taking on No. 5 seed and tournament host Alabama in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m.
Mississippi, Arkansas and Kentucky failed to qualify for the eight team double elimination tournament. Vanderbilt does not sponsor softball in its varsity sports program.
Behind the left arm of rookie phenom Monica Abbott, who upped her record to 41-6 with a doubleheader blanking of Mississippi on Saturday, Tennessee took all three games of its series with Mississippi State earlier this season in Starkville. The series finale was nip and tuck, however, before the Orange prevailed with a pair of runs in the eighth inning.
Historically, Mississippi State is 9-12 in the SEC Tournament, posting a program-best 4-2 clip en route to a championship game appearance in the 1998 postseason gala. The Bulldogs are 6-6 against teams from the Eastern Division and are 1-0 against the Lady Vols in SEC Tournament play.
South Carolina ousted the Maroon and White from the 2003 SEC Tournament in Plant City, Fla., on the shoulders of a 2-1 decision.
The 2004 SEC Tournament, which will make its first appearance at a campus site this season, runs from May 13-16 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Tournament passes can be purchased for 40 dollars for adults and 30 dollars for youth. Day of game passes can be purchased for 10 dollars. For more ticket information, contact the Alabama Ticket Office at (205) 348-6161 or order online at http://netstile.evenue.net/evenue/se/ubama.