May 14, 2013

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou softball team (35-11, 15-8 SEC) has been ranked sixth and eighth in the nation by the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 and USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 polls, respectively, the organizations announced on Tuesday. The two rankings conducted their final regular season polls of the 2013 season.

The Tigers began their postseason with a runner-up finish at the program's first Southeastern Conference Softball Tournament, going 2-1 in the event with a five-inning, 8-0 win over T21 Arkansas (May 9) and a 3-0 shutout of No. 4 Tennessee (May 11). Mizzou was seeded sixth nationally for the 2013 NCAA Division I Softball Championships and will play host to Hofstra, Oregon State and Stony Brook in the Columbia Regional from Friday, May 17-Sunday, May 19.

Mizzou is joined in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll by eight fellow SEC schools: No. 2 Florida, No. 5 Tennessee, T10 Alabama, T10 LSU, No. 17 Kentucky, No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 21 Georgia and No. 24 Arkansas. The entire poll can be viewed here.

The Tigers reside in the USA Today/NFCA poll with six SEC opponents: No. 2 Florida, No.5 Tennessee, No. 9 Alabama, No. 10 LSU, No. 13 Texas A&M and No. 19 Kentucky. The entire poll can be viewed here.

Sixth-seeded Mizzou begins the Columbia Regional with Stony Brook on Friday, May 17, at 6:30 p.m., with live video streaming from ESPN3 and radio coverage from KTGR/Mizzou Network.

Fans are encouraged to check MUTigers.com and the softball team's social media outlets, @MizzouSoftball and Facebook, for updates and information throughout the season.