KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee will host an NCAA Regional for the 13th straight year as the Volunteers were revealed as the No. 8 national seed when the bracket was announced late Sunday night on ESPN2.
The Big Orange will welcome Ohio State, USC Upstate and Longwood to Sherri Parker Lee Stadium for the NCAA Knoxville Regional this weekend from Friday, May 19 to Sunday, May 21. 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 Big South Champion Longwood on Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 while Ohio State will take on Atlantic Sun Champion USC Upstate to begin play on Friday at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN3/WatchESPN.
This will be the 15th NCAA Tournament appearance overall and the 14th consecutive appearance for the Vols, who have advanced to the postseason every year since 2004. This is also the sixth time in program history that UT has earned a top-eight national seed (2006, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2015).
For the first time in league history, all 13 teams from the Southeastern Conference were selected for 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.
Tennessee enters the NCAA Tournament with a 44-10 overall record and finished in a tie for third in the SEC regular season standings, posting a 16-7 mark in conference play. The Vols had five players earn SEC postseason honors last week, led by sophomore shortstop Meghan Gregg, who was named the SEC Player of the Year and was also an All-SEC first team selection for the second straight year. Sophomore’s Brooke Vines and Matty Moss were both All-SEC second team picks while Caylan Arnold and Chelsea Seggern were both named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. Arnold was also the league’s Freshman of the Year, becoming the fourth player in program history to earn that honor.
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 25-28, depending on the host site. All Super Regional sites will feature broadcasts on the ESPN family of networks.
Weekend Schedule
Friday
Game 1: Ohio State vs. USC Upstate | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN3/WatchESPN
Game 2: Tennessee vs. Longwood | 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 15. 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 16 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. Wednesdaymorning.
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.
For more ticket information, visit AllVols.com.
-UT Athletics
