Auburn Softball Awarded No.7 National Seed!

Auburn softball came up short in their quest for a third straight SEC Tournament Title on Saturday when they fell to LSU 6-0 in the league semifinals. Nevertheless, tonight the Tigers got the news they will be hosting an NCAA Regional.

The team found out their postseason fate via the NCAA selection show on ESPN2. The ladies had just finished their season ending banquet and gathered around the TV to watch the show. Jubilation broke out when news came of their seeding.

Auburn was named one of three SEC teams to be awarded an elite eight national seed claiming the No.7 spot while Tennessee received the No.8 seed and Florida was named No.1. Five other SEC schools were named regional host and the league set a record when all 13 teams made the field. The selection marks the third consecutive year for the Tigers to be one of the top eight national seeds.

The Auburn Regional will include East Tennessee State (29-24), Notre Dame (33-21) and California (30-22).

Though the SEC Tournament loss to LSU was disappointing, Coach Clint Myers said it was not totally unexpected for a young team to give under the pressure. While ace Kaylee Carlson (26-4) was tagged with the loss, she only gave up one earned run.

It was an uncharacteristic defense that cost the Tigers a chance at a third league title as much as the lack of offense. LSU scored five unearned runs off of five errors. Freshman second baseman KK Crocker made three of those errors.

“We said at the beginning of the year we are a young team. All this is new for the freshmen,” Myers said. “We just didn’t handle it. We regroup. We go back to the practice field. We do the things we need to do. It’s what we’ve talked about all year.”

Auburn will have four days to regroup and get that practice in before they open against East Tennessee State on Friday at 3:30 p.m.

If they can win their double-elimination regional they will face the winner of the Norman Regional in the NCAA Super Regional round, May 25-28. That could potentially mean a rematch last season’s national championship game with Okalhoma. Win that one and they would host a Super Regional.

However, the Tigers are not looking past this weekend. To get to that next level Myers said, “We have to be a better offensive team. We are getting the pitching. We gave up five unearned runs [Saturday]. That’s not characteristic of us. We have to play Auburn softball.”

“We’re excited,” Myers said. “It’s going to be a good regional. We’ve got to play good softball to have an opportunity to play the other one.”

Auburn Regional (Double Elimination)

Friday, May 19
Game 1: Notre Dame vs. Cal – 1 p.m. ESPN2
Game 2: Auburn vs. ETSU – 3:30 p.m. ESPNU

Saturday, May 20
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 – 1:30 p.m. TV TBD
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 – 4 p.m. TV TBD
Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 – 6:30 p.m. TV TBD

Sunday, May 21
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 – 1:30 p.m. TV TBD
Game 7: (if necessary) – 4 p.m. TV TBD

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