Photo Credit: Kyndall Williams/Tennessee Athletics
By Allison Seaton
The No. 9 Lady Vol softball team finished off the Tennessee Classic with another win, taking down Longwood without allowing a single run (7-0).
The Tennessee Classic has been taking place at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium since Saturday,
March 2. The Lady Vols had only four runs against them the entire weekend.
The final game, against Longwood at noon, only added to their success.
Karlyn Pickens, pitcher, started the game off strong by striking out two out of the three
Longwood players that were at bat. Kiki Milloy and Rylie West put Tennessee on the board in the bottom of the first after crossing home plate.
The Lady Vols didn’t make a run in the second inning, but they were not concerned because Pickens was on top of her game. Pickens only allowed one hit throughout the game, which wasn’t until the fifth inning.
“Having the best team behind me was definitely helpful,” said Pickens, “I’m just doing my job, hunting the zone. If I get the strikeout, great.”
Tennessee’s pitcher had a total of ten strikeouts against the 25 batters she faced.
The rest of the innings played out in favor of the Lady Vols. Four out the seven runs were home runs. Laura Mealer got her first career home run as a Lady Vol in the bottom of the fifth, sending Sophia Nugent across home plate as well.
“I knew it off the bat,” said Mealer, “I was trying to conceal my excitement because I wanted to act like I’ve been here before, but it was really exciting.”
The Lady Vols will be going on the road to take on Clemson in South Carolina on March 6.