No. 1 Lady Vols softball has been firing on all cylinders since the start of their 2026 season.
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The start of SEC play this Friday kept the ball rolling as the No. 17 LSU Tigers came into town to kick off a three-game series. The Lady Vols defeated the Tigers 5-0 in seven innings.
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Tennessee (21-0, 1-0 SEC) started its conference play with a victory as all facets of the game were working for Karen Weekly’s squad. It started with the pitching circle, where Sage Mardjetko got the starting nod.
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With senior pitcher Karlyn Pickens not playing after exiting Tuesday’s midweek game, there would usually be worry that the team can replicate such production. Yet the Lady Vols have one of the best staffs in the nation, and that was on display Friday night.
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“It’s been a lot of fun,” Mardjetko said. “We truly love each other, and just support each other no matter if we do something wrong. So it’s great, there’s no drama, no jealousy, nothing, we want each other’s success as much as our own.”
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Mardjetko quickly put an end to that concern against the Tigers. Even when she wasn’t showcasing her strikeout stuff, she was getting outs consistently.
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In her first three innings of work, she allowed three hits but no runs crossed the plate to show for it. In inning three, the defense went to work after LSU’s Maci Bergeron reached first base on the hardest hit ball from the Tigers on the night.
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“She threw strikes, she attacked,” Weekly said. “That’s one of the nation’s leaders in drawing walks, and a big key for tonight was going to be to make them earn everything at the plate, 99 pitches, no walks, that was a phenomenal job from Sage.”
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In a hard hit ball to Mardjetko, she turned around to second before Ella Dodge flipped the ball over to Emma Clarke at first, closing the early threat.
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It’s little things like that that show the Lady Vols ability to stay in sync, but also the execution ability that has made them one of the toughest teams to play this season.
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While the defense was a brick wall and Mardjetko continued to mow down hitters, the offense finally unlocked in the bottom of the third inning with one swing of the bat from designated player Makenzie Butt.
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Butt, with Dodge reaching first after a fielding error, sent LSU pitcher Jayden Heavener’s pitch deep to the left-center bleachers, putting the Lady Vols up 2-0 early.
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“The game plan tonight was just to see it down,” Butt said. “Lay off all of her stuff, and our team did a great job with that. It was awesome to see just from the first inning to the sixth inning, seeing the difference in us not being out of the zone was so awesome.”
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For a team that tries to avoid living and dying by the home run ball, the long ball was in effect more often than not for the Lady Vols. Taelyn Holley launched a ball to the opposite field with no doubt for the team’s second home run and third run of the night.
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With a 3-0 lead, the offense switched over to small ball the rest of the way, with base running once again being a focus.
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The final two runs came without the ball leaving the infield. A fielder’s choice and a single to second base were how the last few crossed home.
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As the offense continued to chip away, it added extra cushion for Mardjetko to keep working. She finished her night with a complete game, allowing Weekly to keep her bullpen nice and ready for the next two games of the series.
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“That’s huge, especially right now,” Weekly said. “The key to Sage only throwing 99 pitches is exposure. So you want to minimize your pitch count so even the person out there who is gonna have to do something at some point in time, the rest of the weekend, they don’t get as much exposure to, so it’s big.”
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Mardjetko struck out six while walking no batters and allowing just four hits.
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The Lady Vols have the momentum, now they keep things moving as the series continues Saturday afternoon against the Tigers for game two of three.