No. 1 Arkansas opens SEC Softball Tournament Wednesday vs. host Georgia

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas may be the fifth seed at this week’s SEC Softball Tournament, but will also open action at the event on Wednesday as the No. 1 team in college softball for the first time in program history.

Softball America bestowed that honor on the Razorbacks (38-11, 14-10) on Monday when releasing its latest rankings.

Arkansas, also ranked second by D1 Softball, sixth by USA Today and seventh by NFCA, will battle host and 12th-seeded Georgia (31-19, 7-16) Wednesday in Athens around 1 p.m.

The Razorbacks have ascended in all of the polls by winning their last six SEC series, including five over teams were ranked in the top 10 nationally.

“Does (being No. 1 ) give us more confidence? No,” Razorback head coach Courtney Deifel said. “Because I think we sit there and say we are not going to give a ton of weight to the praise and we are not going to give much weight to the criticism.

“We know who we are in our circle. It is exciting…to be two. It is exciting to be one…We also know we may be one in one (poll) and eight in another one. That’s softball this year when the (number) one has changed the last five weeks.

“I think what that says in the strength of softball across the board is as high as it has ever been and we get to be part of that, which is really huge.

“I think the takeaway for me from that is we know we can beat anybody win the country. And that’s what we think, too – we can beat anybody in the country.

“But we also could lose to anybody in the country. That’s softball.

“It’s exciting. I am not going to take anything away from it. It is the first time we have been No. 1 in any poll.”

The host Bulldogs run-ruled 13-seeded Kentucky 8-0 in five innings on Tuesday in the opening game of the tournament.

“I would say this is a crazy, funny game,” Georgia head coach Tony Baldwin said after the win. “And, you know, Sunday, I felt like we hit the ball well for seven innings, and we get shut out (1-0 at Missouri to end the regular season).

“And today, you know, we just had some things fall in that we’ll certainly take. We’ve taken our fair share of the tough breaks that this game provides, so we’ll take the good breaks today and just enjoy the win and get ready to go again tomorrow.”

The two teams have not played this season.

Top-seed Oklahoma, second-seeded Texas A&M, third-seeded Texas and fourth-seeded Tennessee who will play the winner of Arkansas-Georgia on Thursday, all got double byes.

Deifel sees the 15-team SEC Tournament as a mini- Women’s College World Series.

“It’s loaded every year, but I think it is just a top-notch event,” Deifel said. “The SEC does a gratuitous job, ESPN does a great job.

“You get there and you immediately have this postseason feel, which I think is going to be huge for our team with our freshmen and our younger ones, just kind of getting that feel an getting to experience that a little bit, get it under control their belt.”

Adding Texas and Oklahoma into the conference this season made a strong conference even stronger.

“This conference this year was crazy tough,” Deifel said. “It is very year, but this year it felt like magnified. Almost, I wouldn’t say suffocating, but…it was like years past, but on steroids.

“So I would expect the same thing out of the conference tournament. There are going to be some really good matchups…You know your are going to see some really high-level softball and some great competition.”

All times CST

Tuesday, May 6
Game 1: Georgia 8, Kentucky 0
Game 2: Ole Miss 1. Missouri 0

Game 3: Alabama 3, Auburn 2

Wednesday, May 7
Game 4: No. 8 Mississippi State vs. No. 9 LSU | 9 a.m. | SEC Network
Game 5: No. 5 Arkansas vs. No. 12 Georgia | Noon p.m. | SEC Network
Game 6: No. 6 Florida vs. No. 11 Ole Miss | 3 p.m. | SEC Network
Game 7: No. 7 South Carolina vs. No. 10 Alabama | 6 p.m. | SEC Network

Thursday, May 8
Game 8: No. 1 Oklahoma vs. Game 4 winner | 9 a.m. | SEC Network
Game 9: No. 4 Tennessee vs. Game 5 winner | noon. | SEC Network
Game 10: No. 3 Texas vs. Game 6 winner | 3 p.m. | SEC Network
Game 11: No. 2 Texas A&M vs. Game 7 winner | 6 p.m. | SEC Network

Friday, May 9
Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner | 2 p.m. | ESPN2
Game 13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner | 4:40 p.m. | ESPN2

Saturday, May 10
Championship Game: Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner | 3 p.m. | ESPN