UK Softball Earns National Seed in NCAA Tournament

Sunday evening brought a round of good news for the Kentucky softball team.

For the second year in a row, Rachel Lawson's squad will begin NCAA Tournament play at home as a national seed. The Wildcats are the number 14 seed in the field and will host the Illinois Fighting Illini, the Marshall Thundering Herd, and the DePaul Blue Demons in a double elimination pod.

Illinois (37-18) finished fourth in the Big Ten with a 14-8 record. This is the Illini's second consecutive appearance in the tournament and sixth overall.

Marshall (41-10) won the East Division of Conference USA with an impressive 20-4 record. The Thundering Herd made it to the semi-finals of the conference tournament as well.

DePaul (29-21) finished second in the Big East regular season table with a 12-7 record. The Blue Demons won the conference tournament last week 8-3 over St. Johns.

Kentucky (36-17, 12-12) is set to make the program's ninth NCAA Tournament appearance, all under the guidance of coach Rachel Lawson. The Wildcats are one of 13 SEC teams selected for the march to Oklahoma City.

Tournament play kicks off on Friday at noon at Kropp Stadium with a matchup between Illinois and Marshall. Kentucky versus DePaul will follow at 2:30 P.M.

The winners of game one and game two will square off at noon this Saturday with elimination games set for 2:30 and 5:00 P.M.

The championship round will take place on Sunday with another scheduled noon start time. If necessary, a final elimination game shall happen at 2:30 P.M.