By Tristan Thornhill
The No. 7 Tennessee Lady Vols used their pitching and defense to secure win number twenty-two as they improved to 22-4 on the year.
Karlyn Pickens dazzled once again, tossing a complete two-hit, one-run game where she also recorded 10 strikeouts and secured her seventh win.
Pickens also improved her ERA to .61, good enough to make her sixth-best in D1 softball.
The only difference in this game was a Taylor Pannell longball that scraped the left field wall in the first inning after Kinsey Fiedler struck out and Saviya Morgan was caught stealing in a strike-‘em-out-throw-‘em-out play.
Pannell credited her confidence in herself and “just being able to put a barrel on a lot of things,” for her recent success at the plate. “It’s just my mindset going up there. If they’re not gonna throw me what I want early in the count, I’m gonna take till I have to battle it off.”
“I just see a maturity about her, you know, she’s really become a professional hitter… Her ability to shrug things off when they don’t go well, her ability to take a strike if it’s not what she’s looking for, get comfortable hitting with two strikes, that’s usually the progression you see when somebody becomes a very, very complete hitter.” – Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly on Taylor Pannell.
In the top of the second, Pickens mowed down the order getting her first three up three down inning of the contest. Sophia singled through the right side of the infield in the bottom half but it didn’t amount to anything after Emma Clarke grounded out to short.
Pickens wasn’t the only bright spot for the Big Orange. She had some dazzling defensive highlights behind her all evening long, the first one coming from Saviya Morgan, who laid out and made a half slide half diving catch in left field foul territory for the final out of the inning.
Fast forward to the top of the fourth, after Pickens allowed a single down the left field line and a walk to Duke third baseman Thessa Malau’ ulu, she struck out KK Mathis in just three pitches, coming out of the circle fired up.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Lady Vols finally worked the count, earning a seven-pitch walk. However, after an inspiring 12-pitch battle from Clarke, she ultimately went down looking to strand Nugent at first.
More drama came in the bottom of the sixth when Pannell bunted for a single and was pinch-run for Zoie Shuler. Shuler advanced to second after a McKenna Gibson walk, threatening the Blue Devil’s grasp on the 1-0 deficit.
However, Duke pitcher Cassidy Curd gritted her teeth, and shit down the Lady Vols with a pair of strikeouts in which she threw six straight strikes, and eventually got Nugent to pop out to second base, ending the Lady Vol threat.
A restless Sherri Parker Lee Stadium turned towards Pickens to get the job done, but you could almost feel the stress levels of the crowd rise after Duke left fielder Amiah Burgess beat out a leadoff single up the middle that never left the infield.
Nevertheless, the spectacular Tennessee defense once again made its presence known.
After Malau’ ulu grounded out on a fielder choice that sent Burgess to second, Morgan, who had already made the sparkling play in left, ranged back on a ball that tested the very limit of Sherri Parker Lee stadium.
Mathis had hit one to the deepest part of the yard, but after a spectacular read off the bat, Morgan ranged back and made an astonishing over-the-shoulder grab, for the second out of the inning.
Once Burgess advanced to third on the tag-up, all eyes once more fell on Pickens.
Pickens trusted her drop ball and change-up to strike out Brooklinn Thomas, stranding Burgess at third, and sealing the deal for the Lady Vols.
“The change-up sold the deal for us. Really, just that’s a pitch that I rely on a lot knowing that it’s difficult for teams to get the off speed. So yeah, it’s one of my favorites.” – Karlyn Pickens on what pitches she found effective in the final inning.
No doubt the nerves were certainly getting to Pickens in the circle during the final at-bat. After recording the game-winning K, she turned to the dugout and let out a roar that could be heard up toward the press boxes. Weekly credited her ability to take control of her nerves and “thrive in those situations.”
“I definitely get amped up a little bit more… and I give a lot of credit to my coaching staff, helping me throughout my mental game to understand what I need to do in those moments. You know, relying on my routine, whether it’s an easy situation or a hard situation that routine stays the same. So just keeping my head in the same place throughout.” – Pickens on how she used her nerves to control what she could in the final inning.
No doubt it wasn’t the greatest brand of softball Tennessee is capable of playing, but Weekly sees the learning curve in it. “This is the kind of softball you’re going to be playing in the postseason. So, you know, if you want to guarantee that you advance, you’ve got to have really competitive at-bats when you get the runners out there.”
Tennessee welcomes UCONN to town this weekend for a three-game set at Sherri Parker Lee stadium. Lady Vols fans all know that anytime a UCONN team is matched up against Tennessee, there’s a little more ‘oomph’ to the games, no matter the sport.
“It might be a good week to teach them a little bit more about Pat Summit… might be some good feel for them as we go into it.” – Weekly on talking to the team about this weekend’s rivalry matchup against UCONN.
First pitch against UCONN on Friday will be at 6 PM EST at Sherri Parker Lee stadium.