After SEC Tournament loss, UK softball faces wait to learn NCAA Tournament fate
Kentucky softball’s hope of extending its 15-season NCAA Tournament streak is now in the hands of the selection committee.
The No. 13 seed Wildcats were blown out 8-0 by the No. 12 seed Georgia Bulldogs in an SEC Tournament first-round game Tuesday. Now coach Rachel Lawson and her players face a tense five-day wait to learn their postseason fate.
Kentucky will head to Sunday’s selection show with a 29-26 record. The Wildcats were 7-17 in SEC regular season play.
That record might not look like a team worthy of an NCAA Tournament bid on paper, but Kentucky entered Tuesday ranked 33rd nationally in the RPI due in large part to the strength of the SEC, which grew even more difficult this year with the addition of powerhouse programs Oklahoma and Texas.
Kentucky has lost its last five games. There was hope the team was turning a corner in early April with four straight nonconference wins against Marshall, Boston and Western Kentucky, but that momentum was halted when No. 12 South Carolina swept the Wildcats in a three-game series the next weekend.
With the chance to boost its NCAA Tournament resume in the SEC Tournament in Athens, Georgia, on Tuesday, the Wildcats fell behind early after Georgia scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Bulldogs added five more runs in the fourth inning. Kentucky tallied just three hits, triggering the SEC’s run rule to end the game after five innings.
Kentucky last missed the NCAA Tournament in 2008, Lawson’s first year as coach. There was no NCAA Tournament played in 2020 when the NCAA ended all spring sports seasons in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but at 20-4 UK looked well on its way to another postseason berth when the season ended. UK did reach the NCAA Tournament a year ago with an 8-16 SEC record and a similar RPI ranking.
