Home series against Alabama highlights Arkansas' final SEC softball slate before expansion

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ 2024 SEC softball schedule is highlighted by a home series against Alabama.

The series against Alabama is scheduled for April 19-21 at Bogle Park. Arkansas battled the Crimson Tide at in a 10-inning thriller last year at the SEC Tournament hosted at the park. Alabama outlasted the Razorbacks and won 3-2.

The result came nearly two months after Arkansas won its first series in Tuscaloosa.

The Razorbacks are scheduled to begin conference play March 15-17 at Auburn. Slugger Bri Ellis, who transferred to Arkansas during the offseason, was named the SEC freshman of the year in 2022 while with the Tigers after she set the program’s freshman home runs record with 20.

Arkansas is also scheduled to face Georgia, South Carolina and LSU in road series. 

Danielle Gibson Whorton, a two-time All-America selection as a player for the Razorbacks from 2019-22, is in her first season as an assistant coach for the Razorbacks after serving as a volunteer assistant at Georgia last year.

Arkansas’ SEC home opener is scheduled for March 22-24 against Mississippi State. The Razorbacks added sophomore transfer pitcher Reis Beuerlein from the Bulldogs this offseason.

Other league opponents the Razorbacks will face at home are Missouri and Ole Miss.

The 2024 SEC Softball Tournament is scheduled for May 7-11 at Auburn. The host site rotates each year to a different campus among the league’s 13 programs that sponsor softball. Vanderbilt is the only SEC school without a softball team.

The league will expand to 15 softball teams when powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas join the conference for the 2025 season. The Sooners have won three consecutive national championships and the Longhorns were national runner-up in 2022.

The Razorbacks are entering their ninth season under coach Courtney Deifel, who became the program’s all-time winningest coach in 2023. Arkansas went 40-19 overall last season and finished fourth in the league with a 14-10 SEC record.

Bogle Park hosted an NCAA Regional for the fourth consecutive postseason as the Razorbacks garnered the No. 11 national seed. Arkansas was eliminated in the regional championship by Oregon.

Arkansas’ 2024 SEC softball schedule

March 15-17: at Auburn

March 22-24: Mississippi State

March 29-31: at Georgia

April 5-7: Missouri

April 12-14: at South Carolina

April 19-21: Alabama

April 26-28: at LSU

May 3-5: Ole Miss

May 7-11: SEC Softball Tournament (at Auburn)