The teams that finished 1-2 in the SEC softball standings didn’t meet in the regular season last year, but defending regular-season champion Arkansas travels to take on Florida for a three-game series April 15-17, as the league announced the conference schedule on Thursday.
The Razorbacks will host LSU (March 25-27), Auburn (April 8-10), Kentucky (April 15-17) and South Carolina (April 29-May 1). They will play at Tennessee, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Florida. Arkansas won’t face perennial-power Alabama, Missouri, Georgia or Mississippi State during the regular season.
The Razorbacks, who won their first SEC title a year ago and hosted their first NCAA super regional, lost five position players who were in the starting lineup for the NCAA Tournament to graduation along with pitcher Autumn Storms. They’ve added pitcher/designated player Chenice Delce (Tulsa), pitcher Callie Turner (Tennessee), outfielder KB Sides (Alabama) and catcher Taylor Ellworth (Texas) in the offseason through the transfer portal.
Arkansas opens league play March 18 against the Lady Vols in Knoxville. The teams did not play in the regular season last season, but Tennessee eliminated the Razorbacks from the SEC Tournament.
The SEC Tournament is set for May 10-14 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. Bogle Park is scheduled to host the tournament in 2023.