Gators Earn the No. 5 National Seed

The Florida Gator softball team found out last night that Katie Seashole Pressley Stadium will be a host site for an NCAA Regional. This will be the 15th consecutive year that Gainesville will be an NCAA Regional Host.

Not only did the Gators find out that they were named the hosts of the tournament, but they also got the great news of being named the No. 5 overall seed.

This high seeding came off the Gators’ impressive championship run in the SEC Tournament.

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Joining Florida (44-15) in the Gainesville regional will be Stanford (32-18), Boise State (34-14) and Boston University (37-18).

The first game of the regional will be Boise State against Stanford this Friday at noon.

Later that day, Florida will face Boston University at 2:30 PM. The Gators are currently 84-42 in tournament play and 79-30 under Tim Walton.

A high national seed for Florida was not expected before the SEC Tournament, but the Gators swept through SEC opponents South Carolina, LSU, Auburn, and Alabama. This proved to the selection committee that the team had the capability of being chosen for such a high seed.

The regional opposite of Florida includes SEC foe No. 12 Tennessee. This means that the Gators could face an SEC opponent in the super regional round for the fifth straight season. North Carolina, Ohio State, and Longwood are also in the Knoxville Regional.

Around the SEC

Although Florida wounded up with the highest national seed among the SEC teams, all 13 teams ended up making it into the tournament. This is the third consecutive year that all SEC teams have made it into the tournament. Including No.5 Florida, the SEC earned six national seeds.

No. 8 Alabama

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The Crimson Tide (52-7) will host the Tuscaloosa Regional for the 15th consecutive season. Alabama’s last top eight seed came in 2016 which was the team’s last appearance in the Women’s College World Series. The Tuscaloosa regional also features Arizona State (33-18), Lipscomb (41-13-1), and Alabama State (24-23).

No. 10 LSU

The Lousiana State Tigers (40-16) earned the No. 10 seed and will host the Baton Rouge regional. The Tigers spent most of their season among the top eight teams but lost their last five games of the season. This regional will also host Texas Tech (39-14), Louisiana Tech (44-14) and Monmouth (36-16).

No. 11 Ole Miss

The Oxford regional will be host by the No. 11 seed Ole Miss. The Rebels (37-17) will host Louisiana-Lafayette (50-4), Southeast Missouri State (45-16) and Chattanooga (37-15). Ole Miss earned the No. 11 seed even after dropping five of their last six games. This will be the Rebels’ second time hosting a regional in three seasons.

No. 12 Tennessee

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Furthermore, for the 15th consecutive season, Tenessee will host a regional in Knoxville. This will be the 17th tournament appearance for the No. 12 seed Volunteers. The Knoxville regional also features North Carolina (35-18), Ohio State (34-16) and Longwood (37-20).

No. 14 Kentucky

The Kentucky Wildcats (33-22) will host their fourth consecutive regional in Lexington. The Lexington regional will also host Virginia Tech (45-9),  Illinois (32-23) and Toledo (29-26).

Arkansas

Arkansas (38-18) softball will be headed to the Stillwater regional. This regional also features the host Oklahoma State (39-14), Tulsa (35-15) and BYU (29-24). The winner of this regional will go on to face the Tallahassee regional.

Auburn

The Auburn Tigers (37-19) earned a spot in the Tucson regional. This regional is hosted by No. 6 national seed Arizona (42-12) and will also feature Colorado State (38-10) and Harvard (25-17). Auburn made a good run in the SEC Tournament and defeated No. 7 Missouri and No. 2 Tennessee.

Georgia

The #RoadToOKC goes through Minneapolis!

Georgia will take on Drake Friday at 7 p.m., ET, on ESPN2. #Team23 | #GoDawgs | #RoadtoWCWS pic.twitter.com/tNIyt4FlsW

— Georgia Softball (@UGASoftball) May 13, 2019

The Georgia Bulldogs (40-17) are making their 18th straight tournament appearance in the Minneapolis Regional. This regional features host No. 7 Minnesota (41-13), North Dakota St. (42-14) and Drake (42-14).

Mississippi State

For the seventh time out of the last eight seasons, Mississippi State (33-21)  is tournament bound. They are headed to the Seattle regional hosted by No. 3 Washington (45-7). Seattle University (39-15) and Fordham (29-24) are also featured in this regional.

Missouri

The Missouri Tigers (32-23) are headed out to the Los Angeles regional. This regional host is No. 2 UCLA (46-5) and California State-Fullerton (38-16) and Weber State (26-19) are also part of the Los Angeles regional.

South Carolina

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The South Carolina Gamecocks (36-17) are headed to a seventh straight tournament at the Tallahassee regional. The defending national champions, Florida State (51-8), are hosting the regional. South Florida  (40-17) and Bethune Cookman (26-29) are also part of this regional.

Texas A&M

Texas A&M softball will not have to travel far for their 18th-consecutive tournament appearance. They are headed to the Austin regional, hosted by Texas (41-14). Houston (37-17) and Sam Houston State (34-21) are also in the Austin regional.