By Sawyer Hunley
The Lady Vols had a dominant start to the 2026 season, going 26-0.
Yet, over the past month, Tennessee has come back down to Earth, struggling to take series wins over quality opponents. On Monday night, that changed entirely as the No. 8 Lady Vols took down No. 3 Alabama 4-1.
The story of the game was senior pitcher Karlyn Pickens.
The Tennessee ace threw five innings, allowing only one run while striking out 11 and walking no batters.
The biggest number there is the fact that Pickens surrendered no free passes.
Pickens has had a big-time struggle with walks, with 48 coming into the game. Therefore, her walking no batters was a major reason for her success on Monday night.
After a horrible outing on Saturday night, it was a complete 180 for Pickens tonight.
“Karlyn pitched like Karlyn tonight,” said head coach Karen Weekly postgame.
This is the version of Pickens that the Lady Vols will have to have for the rest of the season if they want to make a run in the postseason.
It almost seems as if Pickens goes, the Lady Vols go.
Another thing that needed to get going for the Lady Vols was their offense. The Lady Vols recorded four runs on four hits while drawing two walks.
While the numbers don’t pop off the page, they are really good numbers going against a pitcher that came into the game with a 1.44 ERA and a 19-1 record.
The true star of the offense was a true freshman.
That true freshman was Taelyn Holley.
Holley had been batting near the bottom of the order for most of the season, yet tonight she was brought up to the three hole to bat.
Holley absolutely delivered as she had two hits while also recording two RBI’s.
“You could just tell all weekend she was really in a good place and sticking to her routine,” said Weekly.
The other player that stood out offensively was Emma Clarke.
Clarke has been swinging a good bat as of late, as she recorded a home run in Sunday’s contest, yet Monday night was even better.
Clarke recorded two hits along with an RBI.
Both of these hitters were moved up in the order on Monday and absolutely delivered, and they will have to continue to deliver for the rest of the season if the Lady Vols want to continue to produce runs.
Up Next: The Lady Vols will head to Columbia, Missouri, for their final SEC series of the season, taking on the Missouri Tigers in a three-game set.
The series will open on Thursday, April 30th, with first pitch set for 7:00 PM ET.