So, the Lady Vol softball team, seeded 7th overall in this year's NCAA Tournament, put themselves in a hole on Friday night in Knoxville. A 1-0 loss to Miami (OH) put the Lady Vols in the loser's bracket right away in the Knoxville Regional, meaning it would take four straight wins to advance to the Super Regionals. They got the first two yesterday, run-ruling both UAB (8-0 in 5 innings) and Miami (8-0 in 6 innings). That puts them in the regional finals today, where they'll face ACC Tournament Champion Virginia Tech and must beat them twice to advance. The Hokies bounced the Lady Vols in Knoxville in this exact scenario in 2008: Tennessee won the first game 7-1, but Virginia Tech responded with a 4-2 win in game two to end Tennessee's season.
What we hope will be a doubleheader starts today at 1:30 PM ET, and we'll play one or two until we have a winner. The Lady Vols have been turning people away at the gate all season, and are without question the most successful program on campus right now. You can watch live online here - if the Lady Vols survive and go 2-0 today, they'll host the Super Regional against either 10 seed Georgia or North Carolina next week. If you're following along today, this is your open thread for all the action. Tennessee has to beat Virginia Tech at something while I still live here in southwest VA - let's hope today is the day.
Go Vols.