By Stephen Mason
All it took was one swing of an unlikely bat, a continuation of outstanding pitching, and the Lady Volunteers became the first team to punch their ticket to the 2026 Women’s College World Series.
After taking game one of the super regional, No. 7-seed Tennessee defeated No. 10-seed Georgia 2-1 Friday afternoon to earn the program’s 10th trip to Oklahoma City, the third in the last four years.
The two runs were scored by Sophia Knight, who hit a two-run home run in the second inning to give her team the lead. It was her second blast of the series; she opened the scoring in game one with a solo shot.
“It felt amazing. I mean, I could go on and on, but it was like such a fun game, having fun with the sport we love,” Knight said.
These two home runs come as a surprise – her first since her freshman season in 2024.
“Somebody is going to do something surprising. Like there is going to be something that lifts us when we need it that nobody expects, and obviously she is the one,” head coach Karen Weekly said.
In the circle, it was a combined effort from the pitching staff. Erin Nuwer made the start and pitched into the second inning for the Lady Vols. During this brief outing, she struck out one and allowed two hits, but no runs.
However, after Nuwer hit two batters in the second, Weekly decided to make a pitching change and brought Sage Mardjetko into the game. Mardjetko was able to get out of the inning without giving up any runs.
In fact, in the 5 2/3 innings that she pitched, Mardjetko only gave up one run, which came in the bottom of the seventh. Other than that, she struck out nine batters while giving up only two hits.
“Erin paved the way. She started the game very well, and I was just coming in, doing my job, executing the pitches and the game plan,” Mardjetko said.
With the different looks that Tennessee’s pitching staff gave Georgia, it was difficult for the Bulldogs to get anything going offensively. Weekly has been more than happy to rotate any of her three pitchers into the game to disrupt the opponent, and Friday afternoon was no exception.
“Absolutely incredible, just keeping them off balance … Erin starting off, and Sage coming in, and how they just kept mixing up their speeds and how she kept mixing her location,” Weekly said. “You could see that it was hard for them [Georgia] to sit on anything and settle into anything.”
The third member of the pitching staff, Karlyn Pickens, did not make an appearance in what was her last game at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, after pitching all seven innings Thursday night. However, the senior will be making her third trip to Oklahoma City as a Lady Volunteer.
“Everybody talks about Karlyn, and rightfully so. Karlyn has earned everything, and she’s a huge reason that during her four years here, we’re going to be in OKC in three of them,” Weekly said.
The strength of her pitching staff is something that Weekly leans on as the postseason advances. While offense generates highlights, she wants to build a team that can win it all.
“Offense sells tickets, but pitching and defense win games … It all starts in the circle, and that’s why they call this fastpitch,” Weekly said. “You’ve got to have warriors in the circle, people with really good stuff, but then big-time competitors. And you know some of the biggest competitors on our team are in the circle, and that’s a lot of the reason why we are where we are.”
The Lady Vols pitching staff has been the class of the country throughout the season and certainly gives them an advantage in Oklahoma City.
With all the other teams remaining in the postseason only starting their super regional series Friday, Tennessee will also benefit from a longer weekend to rest and reset before making the trip to Devon Park next week.
Up Next: The first rounds of the Women’s College World Series will be played from May 28 to June 1 in a double-elimination format. The two remaining teams will play for the national championship in a best-of-three series from June 3 to June 5. All games will be televised across the ESPN network family on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.