KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – The introductions had been made. The national anthem had been played. The players had taken the field.

And that point, Friday's semifinal action at the SEC Softball Tournament at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium came to a halt. A lightning strike 8 miles away triggered a 30-minute delay just moments before the first pitch of the day's opening game between Alabama and Ole Miss.

Fans were readmitted to the stadium after that delay, but rainfall hit before the game could start. The tarp came out. And finally came a full deluge which engulfed the Knoxville area.

The day's action was called and rescheduled. The tournament will resume and conclude on Saturday. Here is the schedule (all times Eastern):

11 a.m. – Alabama vs. Ole Miss (SEC Network)
2 p.m. – Auburn vs. LSU (ESPN2)
8 p.m. – Championship game (ESPN)

With a rainy day comes time to reflect, so here are some thoughts and observations from the first two days of play:

Home Sweet ... Not

For the fifth straight year, the host team at the SEC Softball Tournament has made a one-and-done exit. Tennessee lost 6-2 to LSU on Thursday night in a quarterfinal game – the Vols had a first-round bye as a top-four seed.

"We apologize to our fans, but we just didn't play well," said Tennessee co-head coach Ralph Weekly. "I told our kids in the (postgame) meeting that three years ago we got knocked out in the first round of the SEC Tournament and went to the World Series, so we've got a week to put Humpty Dumpty back together again and just see what happens."

Why the host team has fared so poorly is a mystery.

"I don't think it has anything to do with us hosting the tournament," said UT shortstop Meghan Gregg, the SEC Player of the Year. "I think we just came out flat and LSU came out swinging hard. I think it's just as simple as that."

LSU coach Beth Torina went through the same thing when the Tigers hosted in 2015.

"It's hard to host it," Torina said. "It's a lot of work and it's a lot of effort, it's a bit of a distraction for the host team and the coach. ... This is a huge event, an amazing event, but it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort.

"I also think there's a ton of pressure, you know how much work your staff has put into it, that you don't want to let anyone down."

Here are future SEC Tournament sites, subject to change (schools have asked to move back in the order in the past – including next year's host, Missouri, because they wanted to wait for a new stadium or stadium upgrades):

2018 – Missouri
2019 – Texas A&M
2020 – Alabama
2021– Florida
2022 – Arkansas
2023 – Georgia
2024 – Auburn
2025 – Kentucky
2026 – LSU
2027 – Missouri

High Stakes

Several SEC teams came into the league tournament looking to improve their resumes for the committee that will select and seed the field for the 64-team NCAA Tournament. The top 16 seeds will host regionals, and the top eight will host super regionals if they advance.

Alabama, LSU and Kentucky entered the tournament rated 14th, 15th and 17th, respectively, in the official NCAA RPI (ratings percentage index), a key component used by the committee in seeding. Many feel that two of those teams are likely to host. Each won its opening game, and both Alabama and LSU prevailed against highly-ranked teams in the quarterfinals.

Ole Miss, 20th in the RPI going into the week, is also hoping its run might secure a chance to host with its SEC Tournament run.

Tennessee was No. 8 in the rankings released by the selection committee last weekend, but may have hurt its chances by losing to LSU.

How much weight the tournament results carry won't be known until the NCAA Tournament field is revealedSunday night.

"I've been in it long enough to know you can never tell," Tennessee co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. "Nobody knows what the committee's going to do.

"I don't think the latter days of this tournament are going to affect anybody except maybe the winner of the tournament, because I remember several times we've done really well and been surprised like heck on Sundaynight."

Best Division

The SEC doesn't have divisions in softball, since only 13 of the conference's 14 schools field softball teams – Vanderbilt being the outlier – which would make for uneven divisions. After two days of play, however, the four remaining teams are all from the league's Western Division. Traditional SEC East teams Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee all lost in the quarterfinal round.

The SEC West wasn't thumping its collective chest, at least not out loud, however.

"I don't know who's in what division," LSU right fielder Bailey Landry said.

Best Gesture

Alabama coach Patrick Murphy bought lunch for the Tennessee grounds crew, and sent a hand-written letter of appreciation with it.

The note read: "UT Ground Crew – Thank you for all your hard work with the SECSB tourney! Here's lunch on me. Roll Vols."

Tennessee coach Ralph Weekly wasn't aware of Murphy's act of appreciation.

"That doesn't surprise me," Weekly said. "Patrick Murphy and I are really good friends and have a good rapport, as we are with most of the coaches in the league."

Best News

LSU has been without pitcher Carley Hoover, who hasn't played since aggravating an apparent lower leg injury against Missouri in late April.

Coach Beth Torina said earlier in the week that the deeper the Tigers went, the closer they would be to having Hoover available. LSU used Allie Walljasper and Sydney Smith in winning the first two games, but Torina announced after the victory over Tennessee that Hoover is now ready to go. She threw in the bullpen before the game against UT.

"I do have my entire staff available," the coach said.

Semifinal Stats

Here's how the remaining four teams rank statistically through two days of tournament play heading intoSaturday's semifinal and championship rounds in several key categories, with only tournament games considered:

Earned run average:
1. Auburn 0.00
2. Ole Miss 0.50
3. Alabama 0.82
4. LSU 3.00

Strikeouts:
1. Alabama 23
2. Ole Miss 8
3. LSU 6
4. Auburn 2

Opponents batting average:
1. Alabama .130
2. Ole Miss .140
3. Auburn .240
4. LSU .268

Batting average: 
1. Ole Miss .265
2. LSU .255
3. Alabama .246
4. Auburn .136

Slugging percentage:
1. LSU .431
2. Alabama .351
3. Auburn .318
4. Ole Miss .286

On-base percentage
1. Alabama .377
2. Ole Miss .333
3. LSU .328
4. Auburn .240