Rachel Lawson Unveils 2018 Kentucky Softball Schedule
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky softball head coach Rachel Lawson, who enters her 11th year at the helm of the program in 2018, unveiled her team’s schedule for the spring on Monday afternoon.
The 2018 slate features 32 games against teams that made the 2017 NCAA Tournament – with 16 of those games coming on the road. The Wildcats will play 18 games against teams that made it to the Super Regional round, and nine against teams that made it to the Women’s College World Series.
Kentucky will start the season playing its first 13 games away from home in three different cities, including Las Cruces, New Mexico, San Diego, California – and Orlando, Florida. John Cropp Stadium in Lexington will host its first game on March 1 against the Dayton Flyers as part of a six-match homestand.
The 2018 John Cropp Classic will be contested in Lexington on March 3 and 4 pitting UK against Ohio and Southeast Missouri State in a round-robin tournament.
Southeastern Conference play will start on March 9 in Gainesville against the 2017 NCAA Runner Up, Florida. All SEC series will be played in three days with one scheduled game per day over the weekend. On the road in conference play, Kentucky will face Florida (WCWS), Auburn (Super Regionals), Texas A&M (WCWS) and Tennessee (Super Regionals).
Included in the 24-game SEC schedule for UK this season is nine games against teams from the 2017 WCWS and 18 games against teams that made it to the Super Regionals, with 12 of those 18 games coming on the road.
The home SEC slate opens on Saturday, March 17 as UK hosts the LSU Tigers for the national series of the week running Saturday through Monday. UK will host Alabama over Easter Weekend in Lexington (March 30 – April 2), as well as Georgia (April 20-22) and South Carolina (May 4-6). The South Carolina series will be the final regular season series at John Cropp Stadium, with Saturday, May 5 serving as Senior Day.
Kentucky will look to continue its recent dominance over Louisville going in the annual “Battle of the Bluegrass” on Wednesday, April 4 in Lexington. Also in home midweeks, Dayton (March 1), Indiana (March 14), Eastern Kentucky (April 10) and Northern Kentucky (April 24) will come to Lexington.
The 2018 SEC Tournament will be held in Columbia, Missouri from May 9-12 with all games live on ESPN, ESPNU and the SEC Network. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will be on May 13 before NCAA Regionals kick off on May 17. Oklahoma City will once again play host to the Women’s College World Series, running from May 31 until a national champion is crowned on June 5 or 6.
Fans should continue to monitor UKathletics.com for upcoming information on how to acquire both single-game and season tickets for the 2018 season. New to John Cropp Stadium in 2018 is a berm overlooking right field, which will be open for fans to watch the game. Pricing details and information will be released shortly.
Game times will be made public and finalized once the SEC Network and its corporate partners at ESPN make their television selections in mid-December.
For the latest on the Kentucky softball team, follow @UKSoftball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
