2023 Southeastern Conference softball season

2023 SEC Softball Season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportSoftball
Number of teams13
Regular Season
2023 SEC ChampionsTennessee
Tournament
ChampionsTennessee
  Runners-upSouth Carolina
Finals MVPKiki Milloy (Tennessee)
Softball seasons
2023 Southeastern Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
No. 3 Tennessee ‍†‍‡‍y 19 – 5 – 0   .792 51 – 10 – 0   .836
No. 14 Georgia ‍‍‍y 16 – 7 – 0   .696 42 – 15 – 0   .737
No. 20 Auburn ‍‍‍y 15 – 9 – 0   .625 43 – 19 – 0   .694
No. 7 Alabama ‍‍‍y 14 – 10 – 0   .583 45 – 22 – 0   .672
No. 17 Arkansas ‍‍‍y 14 – 10 – 0   .583 40 – 19 – 0   .678
No. 16 LSU ‍‍‍y 13 – 11 – 0   .542 42 – 17 – 0   .712
Texas A&M ‍‍‍y 12 – 12 – 0   .500 35 – 21 – 0   .625
No. 21 Florida ‍‍‍y 11 – 13 – 0   .458 38 – 22 – 0   .633
No. 24 Kentucky ‍‍‍y 10 – 14 – 0   .417 31 – 22 – 1   .583
No. 25 South Carolina ‍‍‍y 9 – 15 – 0   .375 40 – 22 – 0   .645
Ole Miss ‍‍‍y 8 – 16 – 0   .333 32 – 28 – 0   .533
Mississippi State  ‍‍‍ 7 – 16 – 0   .304 28 – 25 – 0   .528
Missouri ‍‍‍y 7 – 17 – 0   .292 35 – 26 – 0   .574
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 5, 2023[1]
Rankings from NFCA/USA Today[2]

The 2023 SEC softball season began play Thursday, February 9, and conference play began on Friday, March 10. Tennessee clinched the regular season conference championship on May 6.[3] Tennessee also won the 2023 Southeastern Conference softball tournament which took place from May 9–13 at Bogle Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Vanderbilt University is the only full member of the Southeastern Conference to not sponsor a softball program.[4] Of the 13 teams in the SEC, 12 played in the NCAA tournament. Of the top 16 seeds hosting Regionals, five are from the SEC.[5] Three of the five win their Regionals, being the only SEC teams to win Regionals. Two of the three win their Super Regionals and advance to the 2023 Women's College World Series (WCWS).

SEC preseason poll

The head coaches SEC preseason poll was released on January 26, 2023. Each head coach votes on a scale of 12 points for first place down to 1 point for last place, 12th. Each coach only votes for 12 teams, since they can not vote for their own team. Florida was picked to finish 1st, with five 1st place votes. Tennessee was 2nd with three 1st place votes, and Arkansas 3rd with the remaining five 1st place votes.[6]

Preseason poll
Predicted finish Team
1 Florida
2 Tennessee
3 Arkansas
4 Alabama
5 LSU
6 Georgia
7 Kentucky
8 Missouri
9 Auburn
10 Ole Miss
11 Mississippi State
12 Texas A&M
13 South Carolina

Record vs. conference opponents

Date m/dd is for last scheduled game of series. Blank are not scheduled. Blue are home games, otherwise away.

2023 SEC softball records

Source: 2023 SEC softball game results, 2023 SEC softball schedule

Team W–L ALA ARK AUB FLA UGA KEN LSU MSU MIZZ MISS SCAR TENN TAMU Team SR SW
ALA 14–10 1–2 1–2 . . . 2–1 3–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 . ALA 5–3 1–0
ARK 14–10 2–1 . 2–1 1–2 2–1 . 3–0 1–2 . . 2–1 1–2 ARK 5–3 1–0
AUB 15–9 2–1 . 1–2 1–2 . 2–1 2–1 3–0 2–1 2–1 . . AUB 6–2 1–0
FLA 11–13 . 1–2 2–1 2–1 1–2 . . 2–1 2–1 1–2 0–3 . FLA 4–4 0–1
UGA 16–7 . 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–1 1–2 2–0 . . 3–0 . 3–0 UGA 6–2 2–0
KEN 10–14 . 1–2 . 2–1 1–2 . 0–3 3–0 2–1 . 0–3 1–2 KEN 3–5 1–2
LSU 13–11 1–2 . 1–2 . 2–1 . 3–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–3 . LSU 5–3 1–1
MSU 7–16 0–3 0–3 1–2 . 0–2 3–0 0–3 . . 3–0 . 0–3 MSU 2–6 2–4
MIZZ 7–17 1–2 2–1 0–3 1–2 . 0–3 1–2 . 1–2 . . 1–2 MIZZ 1–7 0–2
MISS 8–16 1–2 . 1–2 1–2 . 1–2 1–2 . 2–1 . 0–3 1–2 MISS 1–7 0–1
SCAR 9–15 1–2 . 1–2 2–1 0–3 . 1–2 0–3 . . 1–2 3–0 SCAR 2–6 1–2
TENN 19–5 2–1 1–2 . 3–0 . 3–0 3–0 . . 3–0 2–1 2–1 TENN 7–1 4–0
TAMU 12–12 . 2–1 . . 0–3 2–1 . 3–0 2–1 2–1 0–3 1–2 TAMU 5–3 1–2
Team W–L ALA ARK AUB FLA UGA KEN LSU MSU MIZZ MISS SCAR TENN TAMU Team SR SW

Updated for entire regular season. Tie brkrs: ARK>ALA hd to hd.[7][8]

National rankings

All games, for the weeks ending May 21 through June 9 were played in the NCAA tournament and the Women's College World Series (WCWS). The SEC had 12 of 13 teams play in the NCAA tournament, Mississippi State being the only team to not play. All playing, except for Kentucky and Missouri, made a Regional final and three, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, won Regionals to advance to Super Regionals. Tennessee and Alabama won their Super Regionals to advance to the WCWS, while Georgia lost in a Super Regional. Finishes, e.g., 3rd, 7th, etc., are finishes in the NCAA tournament. They are not necessarily the same positions in any of the polls.

  • Tennessee went 5–0 winning their Regional and Super Regional and went 2–2 in the WCWS to finish tied for 3rd with one other team.
  • Alabama went 5–2 winning their Regional and Super Regional and went 0–2 in the WCWS to finish tied for 7th with one other team.
  • Georgia went 3–0 winning their Regional and 0–2 losing to Florida State in their Super Regional. Georgia finished tied for 9th with seven other teams.
  • Arkansas went 2–2 losing their Regional to a ranked Oregon. Arkansas finished tied for 17th with fifteen other teams.
  • LSU went 2–2 losing out to a ranked Louisiana in LSU's Regional, finishing tied for 17th with fifteen other teams.
  • Auburn went 3–2 losing out to a ranked Clemson in Clemson's Regional. Auburn finished tied for 17th with fifteen other teams.
  • Texas A&M went 2–2 losing out to a ranked Texas in Texas' Regional. Texas A&M finished tied for 17th with fifteen other teams.
  • Florida went 2–2 losing out to a ranked Stanford in Stanford's Regional. Florida finished tied for 17th with fifteen other teams.
  • Ole Miss went 2–2 losing out to a ranked Utah in Utah's Regional. Ole Miss finished tied for 17th with fifteen other teams.
  • South Carolina went 3–2 losing out to an unranked UCF and a ranked Florida State in Florida State's Regional. South Carolina finished tied for 17th with fifteen other teams.
  • Kentucky went 1–2 losing out to an unranked Miami (Ohio) and a ranked Northwestern in Northwestern's Regional. Kentucky finished tied for 33rd with fifteen other teams.
  • Missouri went 1–2 losing out to an unranked California and a ranked Oklahoma in Oklahoma's Regional. Missouri finished tied for 33rd with fifteen other teams.

[7][9][10]

NFCA/USA Today

The 14th poll was after the conference tournaments and before the NCAA tournament. The 15th poll, after the NCAA tournament, is the final poll. See 2023 NCAA Division I softball rankings#NFCA/USA Today also.

Week 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
TENN 13 11 12 7 7 5 4 4 5 7 4 3 4 4 4 3 TENN
ALA 9 15 11 13 13 16 16 17 16 16 14 16 14 14 12 7 ALA
UGA 15 12 17 18 19 18 17 15 14 12 12 11 11 13 14 14 UGA
LSU 25 18 15 15 14 12 15 14 12 13 15 13 15 11 11 16 LSU
ARK 7 4 7 6 6 9 12 10 8 10 11 12 12 12 13 17 ARK
AUB 21 21 20 19 18 19 21 19 19 21 19 17 17 16 16 20 AUB
FLA 4 3 3 8 8 8 8 11 15 15 13 14 16 18 20 21 FLA
KEN 20 17 18 17 16 14 13 16 17 17 20 20 23 22 22 24 KEN
TAMU – – – – – 24 – 25 24 23 25 25 25 – – – TAMU
MIZZ – – 24 24 25 – – – – – – – – – – – MIZZ
MSU 23 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – MSU
MISS – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – MISS
SCAR – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – SCAR

[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][2]

D1Softball

The 13th poll was after the end of the regular season, before the conference tournaments, then the 14th poll, after the NCAA tournament, is the final poll. See 2023 NCAA Division I softball rankings#D1Softball also.

Week 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
TENN 12 9 11 4 4 4 3 3 4 7 3 3 4 4 4 TENN
ALA 6 12 6 12 10 19 15 16 15 15 13 16 14 16 8 ALA
UGA 10 8 14 18 18 18 9 8 8 6 7 7 6 7 11 UGA
ARK 8 4 10 8 9 15 17 12 9 12 11 13 12 14 17 ARK
LSU 17 17 12 9 8 8 10 11 10 11 14 12 15 9 18 LSU
AUB 19 23 18 20 22 24 – – – – 20 15 13 15 20 AUB
TAMU – 25 19 22 21 13 20 15 14 14 21 22 23 22 23 TAMU
FLA 5 3 4 13 13 10 11 18 – 23 18 21 22 – – FLA
KEN 16 15 16 14 17 9 8 14 17 19 23 24 – – – KEN
SCAR – – – – – – – – – – 25 – – – – SCAR
MIZZ – – 25 24 – – – – – – – – – – – MIZZ
MISS 25 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – MISS
MSU – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – MSU

[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]

ESPN/USA Softball Collegiate

The 14th poll was after the conference tournaments and before the NCAA tournament. The 15th poll, after the NCAA tournament, is the final poll. See 2023 NCAA Division I softball rankings#ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 also.

Week 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
TENN 12 8 9 6 5 5 3 3 5 6 4 3 4 4 4 4 TENN
ALA 7 12 7 9 9 13 13 14 14 14 13 16 14 13 11 7 ALA
UGA 13 10 16 16 18 17 16 10 8 9 11 11 10 11 12 12 UGA
ARK 6 4 8 7 7 12 17 11 9 11 12 12 12 12 13 17 ARK
AUB 21 21 20 21 21 22 25 23 23 24 21 17 15 15 17 19 AUB
LSU 20 18 14 15 14 10 12 12 11 12 15 14 16 14 15 20 LSU
FLA 5 3 3 10 12 11 10 13 18 15 14 15 17 21 20 21 FLA
SCAR – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 23 SCAR
TAMU – – – 25 – 21 24 21 19 21 24 23 23 23 25 – TAMU
KEN 17 16 18 17 16 14 11 16 15 16 20 22 – – – – KEN
MIZZ 23 23 21 23 23 – – – – – – – – – – – MIZZ
MSU – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – MSU
MISS – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – MISS

[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56]

All-SEC teams

On May 12, SEC officials announced their softball awards for the 2023 season. Skylar Wallace of Florida was selected as Player of the Year, Maddie Penta of Auburn was named Pitcher of the Year, and Karlyn Pickens of Tennessee was Freshman of the Year, and Karen Weekly of Tennessee was chosen as the Coach of the Year.[57]

[58]

The All-SEC Teams consist of 21 student-athletes on the First Team, 21 student-athletes on the Second Team, and a nine-member All-Defensive Team:

All-SEC First Team

All-SEC Second Team

SEC All-Defensive Team

References

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