July 19, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Southeastern Conference and the University of South Carolina announce that the 2014 SEC Softball Tournament will emanate from Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field from Wed., May 7 through Sat., May 10.

The facility, which opened to rave reviews in the spring of 2013, will be showcased nationally during one of the biggest weekends in the sport every year. All nine games of the SEC Tournament will be aired on the ESPN family of networks.

“I am so thrilled that the SEC Tournament is coming to South Carolina in 2014,” said Gamecock head coach Beverly Smith. “The timing is perfect for South Carolina to be able to showcase our brand new stadium. The support that our administration is putting to softball will be evident when people see all the beautiful shots of the stadium. I love the fact that every single game of the SEC Tournament is on ESPN. And I’m excited for Gamecock fans to be able to come out and really show the other schools in the SEC what kind of support we get here in Columbia.”

The Gamecocks, who have won the tournament twice (1997 and 2001), will host the event for the first time next spring. Last season, South Carolina returned to the premier conference tourney in the country and defeated host Kentucky in the first round. All 10 participants at Kentucky last year made the NCAA Tournament, as well as non-tournament participant Mississippi State.

South Carolina has hosted several SEC championship events, most recently the 2012 women’s golf event. Cross country hosted the 2010 championship, while the last event from the downtown footprint of the flagship university of the Palmetto State was the 2003 volleyball tournament. The Gameocks will also host the 2014 equestrian championship.

Ticket packages and more details for the tournament will be announced at a later date on GamecocksOnline.com.