UK has the best bats in the SEC. Is that enough to win first league championship?
Thirteen schools play softball in the Southeastern Conference. All 13 have been invited to the last three NCAA Tournaments.
The league’s incredible depth is demonstrated further by recent outcomes in the SEC Tournament, slated to begin Tuesday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Its last nine editions have produced six unique winners, with Florida (three) and Auburn (two) the only programs to win more than once in that span. The Gators, seeded first this week, won the last two tournaments in 2018 and 2019.
Eight teams in the league were ranked, and two others received votes, in the coaches poll released last week. UK was among them, checking in at No. 18 overall prior to its sweep of unranked South Carolina over the weekend. Kentucky, ranked 17th overall in the NCAA’s RPI, brings a six-game win streak into the postseason.
1. SEC history
Kentucky has accomplished a great deal during Rachel Lawson’s tenure — including a College World Series berth in 2014 — but has never won an SEC Tournament.
The Wildcats are seeded sixth in this year’s event. That’s not ideal, as it means having to win four games to earn a title, but is not without precedent; Florida last year won it as a six seed, and since the field expanded to include 10 or more teams in 2013 — 2019 was the first time that all 13 teams participated — four of the seven tournaments played were won by a team seeded No. 4 or lower (The lowest to do it? Mississippi, who in 2017 became the first team to win the league tournament as a No. 8 seed.)
“Every team that comes in, I want them to do something the previous team hasn’t done,” Lawson said. “You’re trying to leave your legacy and you’re trying to build a program. Whichever one of our teams is gonna be the first team to win an SEC Tournament is just gonna be so special. We have been to the World Series, but obviously our goal is national championships and SEC championships. That’s why you come to Kentucky.”
2. Kayla Kowalik
UK’s lead-off batter, Kayla Kowalik, is the best hitter in the country and one of 10 finalists for USA Today National Player of the Year.
Her .509 batting average technically ranks third in the nation, but it’s the highest mark by any player on a team that’s actually competing for an NCAA championship this season; Dartmouth, which is ineligible for the postseason due to the Ivy League removing itself from competition this season, played three non-conference games in April and has two hitters ranked ahead of Kowalik.
The junior has been in something of a “slump” lately, by her standards. Starting with the second game of a doubleheader versus LSU on April 25, in which her school-record 23-game hit streak came to an end, Kowalik was 7-for-22 (.318) over the Cats’ final seven regular-season games.
“She’s incredibly steady, and she’s also very realistic,” Lawson said. “She has a good grasp of reality. There were times where I thought, ‘Man, this streak’s gonna go,” because there were games where her first at-bat didn’t look great. A year ago, I think she might have carried that with her but this year she’s been able to bounce back and bounce back.”
Kentucky as a whole ranks among the NCAA’s best-hitting clubs. The Wildcats in the regular season hit .331 as a unit, which is a top-15 mark in the nation and tops in the SEC. Oklahoma, tops in hitting and the reigning national champion, is the only club batting .400 or better (.432).
3. NCAA hosts
At stake for Kentucky is a chance to host an NCAA Tournament regional, something it’s done each of the last four editions.
UK last week was one of 20 pre-determined sites, eight of them SEC institutions, to be named as a possible region host. The NCAA will announce the 16 regional sites as part of its softball selection show, set for a 9 p.m. ESPN2 broadcast on May 16.
The Wildcats won’t have to sweat out an NCAA bid regardless of how things play out in Tuscaloosa this week, but a good showing would be persuasive as it looks to host a fifth straight regional. It’s possible that it’s trivial, but winning never hurts.
“When you’re talking those margins, it comes down to what the people think,” Lawson said. “Any time you can win at the very end, your last series and stuff like that, I think it always looks good. We do have a lot of quality wins, so I think that helps us. It’s not my primary focus but hosting is always something that’s in the back of my mind.”
4. First round
Georgia, the No. 11 seed, awaits the Wildcats in the tournament’s first full round of play on Wednesday (a play-in game between Auburn and South Carolina precedes it on Tuesday).
The Bulldogs finished 29-20 in the regular season. Last year’s 23-5 ledger due to the COVID-19 pandemic was the first time they finished with fewer than 33 wins in any season under Lu Harris-Camper, who’s in her 21st season as Georgia’s head coach. They have a decided edge all-time against Kentucky (58-15), which includes two wins in Lexington this season, but lost 12 of their last 14 games and enter the postseason on a six-game slide. Georgia’s only series wins in league play were against the Wildcats and Missouri.
Mary Wilson Avant leads Georgia with a 15-9 record in 25 starts. She’s thrown 13 complete games and boasts a 2.99 ERA with 173 strikeouts. Avant pitched all nine innings of Georgia’s 7-6 win over top-ranked Oklahoma on April 20, handing the Sooners their first of just two losses in the regular season.
5. Alabama
Alabama entered the weekend as the league’s No. 3 team and finished in the same spot despite sweeping Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide in the 2019 tournament were the No. 1 seed and reached the championship game. Kentucky will play Alabama, against whom it won a regular-season series, 2-1, on Thursday if it gets past Georgia.
East Carter High School graduate Montana Fouts leads Alabama in starts at pitcher (23) and boasts a 1.63 ERA with a 19-3 record. She threw for four innings against Alabama State on Feb. 12 as part of a combined perfect game, the fifth in Alabama history.
Kaylee Tow, a former standout for Madisonville High School, bats .368 for the Crimson Tide, fourth on the team, leads the team with 12 doubles and is second with seven home runs and 38 runs scored. The senior is one of three players to start all 49 games for Alabama this season.
Tow (2017) and Fouts (2018) were Kentucky Miss Softball recipients in back-to-back years.
Next game
No. 18 Kentucky vs. No. 22 Georgia
What: SEC Tournament first-round game
Where: Tuscaloosa, Ala.
When: 7:45 p.m. EDT Wednesday
TV: SEC Network
Records: No. 6 seed Kentucky 38-12, No. 11 seed Georgia 29-20
Series: Georgia leads 58-15
Last meeting: Georgia won 5-2 on April 12, 2021, in Lexington.
SEC Tournament schedule
At Tuscaloosa, Ala.
All times Eastern
Tuesday
7 p.m.: No. 12 seed Auburn (27-21) vs. No. 13 South Carolina (25-25)
Wednesday
Noon: No. 8 Mississippi (34-19) vs. No. 9 Mississippi State (32-22)
2:30 p.m.: No. 5 LSU (31-18) vs. Auburn-South Carolina winner
5:10 p.m.: No. 7 Tennessee (39-12) vs. No. 10 Texas A&M (31-20)
7:45 p.m.: No. 6 Kentucky (38-12) vs. No. 11 Georgia (29-20)
Thursday
Noon: No. 1 Florida (40-8) vs. Mississippi-Mississippi State winner
About 2:30 p.m.: No. 4 Missouri (37-14) vs. LSU-Auburn-South Carolina winner
About 5 p.m.: No. 2 Arkansas (40-8) vs. Tennessee-Texas A&M winner
About 7:30 p.m.: No. 3 Alabama (42-7) vs. Kentucky-Georgia winner
Friday
4 p.m.: Back-to-back semifinal games begin
Saturday
6 p.m.: Championship game
TV
Championship and semifinals on ESPN2. All other games on SEC Network.
