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Tennessee softball Felsberg Invitational preview: How to watch the season-opening event

By Caleb Calhoun

Softballs sit in a bucket at Farragut High School in Farragut, Tennessee on Tuesday, April 23, 2019.Kns Maryville Farragut Softball
Softballs sit in a bucket at Farragut High School in Farragut, Tennessee on Tuesday, April 23, 2019.Kns Maryville Farragut Softball /
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It’s time to take to the diamond. Tennessee softball enters its first year under Karen Weekly as the sole head coach after she and her husband, Ralph Weekly, were co-head coaches of the program for 20 years. Ranked No. 16 in the nation, UT opens the year in a tournament in South Florida.

The Lady Vols will join the Maryland Terrapins, the Florida International Panthers and the UNC Greensboro Spartans in the Felsberg Invitational, a tournament hosted by FIU. They will open things up Friday morning against UNCG.

In this tournament, Rocky Top will play the UNCG and the Terps on Friday before facing FIU on Saturday. Then a four-game tournament begins Saturday with seeding based on how they all performed in the round robin games against each other. Here is all the information you need for the tournament and then Tennessee softball’s schedule.

Felsberg Invitational

When: Friday, Feb. 11 through Sunday, Feb. 13

Where: Felsberg Field; Miami, Fla.

Live stream: CUSA.tv (Only for games involving FIU)

Listen online: UTSports

Schedule

Game 1

  • Tennessee vs. UNC Greensboro
  • Friday, Feb. 11
  • 10 a.m. ET

Game 2 

  • Tennessee vs. Maryland
  • Friday, Feb. 11
  • 12:30 p.m. ET

Game 3

  • FIU vs. UNC Greensboro
  • Friday, Feb. 11
  • 3 p.m. ET

Game 4

  • Maryland vs. FIU
  • Friday, Feb. 11
  • 5:30 p.m. ET

Game 5

  • Maryland vs. UNC Greensboro
  • Saturday, Feb. 12
  • 10 a.m. ET

Game 6

  • Tennessee vs. FIU
  • Saturday, Feb. 12
  • 12:30 p.m. ET

Tournament schedule

Game 7

  • No. 2 seed vs. No. 3 seed
  • Saturday, Feb. 12
  • 3 p.m. ET

Game 8

  • No. 1 seed vs. No. 4 seed
  • Saturday, Feb. 12
  • 5:30 p.m. ET

Game 9

  • Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 loser
  • Sunday, Feb. 13
  • 10 a.m. ET

Game 10

  • Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner
  • Sunday, Feb. 13
  • 12:30 p.m. ET

No matter what happens, the Lady Vols will end up playing five games over the weekend. As the only preseason top 25 team, Weekly’s program is a heavy favorite to win the series. Given al the changes and how this team performed last year, it’s crucial they start the year off with a bang.

UT went 42-15 last year but was shocked by the James Madison Dukes and then Liberty Flames while hosting the NCAA Regionals last year. They were the No. 9 overall seed, so the Super Regionals should have been expected and a College World Series was a strong possibility, making what happened a huge shocker.

This year, they enter ranked lower than they were entering the tournament last year but in the top half of the SEC, which is the dominant softball conference, by most metrics. Facing a Power Five team and another team on the road is a great chance to make an early statement.

After this weekend, Tennessee softball has a huge test. They’ll stay in Florida for the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational next week, facing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and No. 6 ranked Florida State Seminoles Thursday, the No. 7 ranked Washington Huskies and No. 14 ranked Clemson Tigers Friday and the UCF Knights Saturday.

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