By Stephen Mason
After an outstanding offensive performance Saturday afternoon to get themselves into the Knoxville Regional final, the No. 7 Lady Volunteers backed it up with another strong performance Sunday, defeating the Virginia Cavaliers 5-1.
The hot bats were backed up by a stellar pitching performance from senior ace Karlyn Pickens. She will now go 4-for-4 in super regional appearances in her college career, as Tennessee will be playing on the second weekend of the postseason for the fourth year in a row.
“There have been so many great girls that have come through this program that Karen has recruited,” Pickens said. “I think that falls back on the culture we have here, and those girls in my senior year have put that into practice.”
After throwing three innings Saturday, Pickens pitched the entire game Sunday. During her outing, she gave up only two hits and one run while striking out nine batters.
“The main thing for me is just always competing. Having the mindset that we’re down one or like a zero-zero game. I think that’s what keeps my mind in the right spot,” Pickens said.
However, Pickens never entered the circle during the game while Tennessee was trailing the Cavaliers. The Lady Vols jumped out in front in the third on a sacrifice fly by Sophia Knight, and while Virginia tied the score the following half-inning, Pickens never let them cross the plate again.
It was all Tennessee offensively after this, as they kept slowly pulling away from the Cavaliers as the game went on. This performance was powered by two freshmen, Taelyn Holley and Elsa Morrison, who got on base a combined six times.
“They’ve both had their moments where you have to adjust to softball on this level… It’s been really cool to watch both of them just look like upperclassmen in the postseason,” head coach Karen Weekly said.
Holley put her exclamation point on the offensive performance by hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning. This was her first home run since March 7, and she looks to be hitting her stride at just the right time.
“I would just say relying on my teammates and my coaches. They’ve put a lot of effort and work into me, so just being able to trust that,” Holley said.
While Morrison had her share of offensive highlights throughout the postseason, she has also proven to be a reliable catcher for the veteran pitcher Pickens.
“She’s done everything she can to be great behind the plate, which she has been,” Pickens said. “She’s just making me comfortable. You know, that’s kind of a catcher’s job. We have a great relationship on the field.”
Plenty of other Lady Vols, up and down the batting order, contributed in Sunday’s victory. Mackenzie Butt and Alannah Leach hit RBIs, and the team made plenty of contact throughout the game, with the Virginia pitching staff recording only three strikeouts.
“We just kept the faith. We had so much evidence from the season of how good we were offensively, but then we got a lot of evidence this past week,” Weekly said. “They came every day, ready to work, ready to get better, and we got better. This week, we had our best practices of the entire year, and the growth we made in one week was pretty remarkable.”
This offensive improvement, combined with the already lethal pitching, helped the Lady Vols go undefeated in the Knoxville Regional; however, the road only gets harder going forward.
Up Next: Tennessee will host the Georgia Bulldogs in Knoxville next weekend in the super regionals for a best-of-three series. While the two teams did not face each other in the regular season, Georgia will bring one of the best offenses in the nation into Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, which, when matched up with Tennessee’s pitching staff, should make for an entertaining series.