Start of Day 3 of 2024 SEC Softball Tournament delayed due to weather
The start of the 2024 SEC Softball Tournament on Thursday has been delayed due to weather, the league announced on social media.
LSU was set to take on top-seeded Tennessee to open the day’s action at 11 a.m. ET, but the start time is at least temporarily delayed while the weather clears the area. The SEC noted it will provide more updates on the start time when available.
This will be Tennessee’s first game in the SEC Softball Tournament, while LSU used a 3-2 win over Alabama on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinal round.
After a single game was played on Tuesday to open the SEC Tournament, the action really got going on Wednesday with four different games played. Two of them reached 14 innings.
8-seed LSU defeated 9-seed Alabama 3-2 in 14 innings in the first of four games in what turned out to be the longest game in SEC Tournament history. That wouldn’t last long, though.
After nearly eight innings of scoreless softball — Taylor Pleasants knocked in a single to center field in the bottom of the 14th to score Sierra Daniel from third base to give the Tigers their sixth walk-off of the season. They’ll play top-seeded Tennessee to begin Day 3 on Thursday.
The second matchup of the day saw 5-seed Missouri control their matchup against 13-seed Ole Miss after scoring three early runs. The Rebels wouldn’t find the scoreboard until the seventh, but by that time it was too late thanks to the pitching performance of Laurin Krings and Taylor Pannell.
Excitement continued in game three, seeing 7-seed Georgia and 10-seed Auburn battle into extra innings at two runs a piece. After a pitcher’s duel sent this game into 14 innings tied at 2-2 — seven combined runs from both teams were scored in the 14th as Bulldogs catcher Sarah Gordon worked an 0-1 count over the fence to walk it off for Georgia, who will now face 2-seed Florida on Thursday.
This game broke the LSU-Alabama record for the longest game in SEC Tournament history by nearly 30 minutes, playing for a whopping 4 hours and 21 minutes.
After all the fireworks throughout the day, the night ended with a little less of a bang as 11-seed South Carolina defeated 6-seed Mississippi State 8-4. The Gamecocks stormed off to an 8-1 lead through four and a half innings before the Bulldogs tried to rally with a three-run bomb by first baseman Madisyn Kennedy in the bottom of the fifth stanza.
That homer would prove to be the last of the scoring as the Gamecocks would advance to the next round. Gamecocks second baseman Denver Bryant led the way with four hits producing two RBIs while also scoring twice herself. South Carolina will now face the 2-seed Texas A&M Aggies to finish off Thursday’s action.
2024 SEC Softball Tournament bracket, schedule
Tuesday, May 7
Game 1: Ole Miss 7, Kentucky 2
Wednesday, May 8
Game 2: LSU 3, Alabama 2
Game 3: Missouri 3, Ole Miss 1
Game 4: Georgia 6, Auburn 5
Game 5: South Carolina 8, Mississippi State 4
Thursday, May 9
Game 6: No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 8 LSU, 11 a.m. on SEC Network
Game 7: No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 5 Missouri, 35 minutes after Game 6 on SEC Network
Game 8: No. 2 Florida vs. No. 7 Georgia, 5 p.m. on SEC Network
Game 9: No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 South Carolina, 35 minutes after Game 8 on SEC Network
Friday, May 10
Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 4 p.m. on ESPN2
Game 11: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 35 minutes after Game 10 on ESPN2
Saturday, May 11
Championship Game: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 5 p.m. on ESPN2
All times are ET.
On3’s Barkley Traux also contributed to this report.