Photo by Jon Anderson
SEC Baseball 2017 33
An Arkansas player takes a swing at a ball during Arkansas’ matchup against LSU in the 2017 SEC Baseball Tournament championship game at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, on Sunday, May 28, 2017.
The Southeastern Conference is gearing up for the SEC Baseball Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium next week (May 25-30) after a year off last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attendance will be at a reduced capacity, and face coverings will be required when entering and exiting the stadium and when in public spaces such as the concourses, restrooms and concession lines, the SEC said. Fans will be “encouraged” to wear face coverings when seated, the conference said.
Also, there will be no general admission tickets this year. Instead, all seats will be reserved as part of COVID-19 protocols.
There also will be no SEC FanFest activities in the adjacent Finley Center — an amenity that was added in 2017 that included a nine-hole carpet golf course, golf simulators, driving simulators, classic arcade games, inflatables, virtual reality simulator, a Lego construction zone, photo booth, sports bar with live entertainment, electronic darts, ping pong, skeeball, foosball, pool tables, air hockey, shuffleboard, basketball games, corn hole and oversized Connect 4 games.
There will, however, still be an outdoor ferris wheel and zipline, and the Hoover Climbing & Adventure center inside the Finley Center will be open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The tournament will feature 12 teams with seeds 5-12 playing in a single-elimination format on the opening day of the tournament, Tuesday, May 25. This will be followed by traditional double-elimination play Wednesday-Friday. The tournament will return to single-elimination play on Saturday. A total of 17 games are scheduled to be played throughout the week, with the championship game scheduled for Sunday, May 30 at 2 p.m.
All games are scheduled to be shown on the SEC Network, except the championship game, which is scheduled to be televised on ESPN2.
Seeding for the tournament had not been announced as of Wednesday night.
Ticket books good for all sessions of the tournament went on sale May 12 and sold out for $110 each. Single-session tickets, if available, were scheduled to go on sale for $20 beginning Saturday, May 22. Tickets were being sold at SECsports.com and through the ticket office at 877-332-7804.
The tournament is utilizing mobile tickets, and all fans will need a mobile ticket to enter the stadium. Also, the SEC’s clear bag policy will be in effect as usual for the SEC Baseball Tournament.