Saturday’s series opener began as a beautiful moment, but quickly transformed into a nightmare for the Lady Vols.
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The nightmare ended in a run-rule win, the first time the Lady Vols have been defeated in just five innings all season, as Alabama defeated Tennessee 12-0 in five innings. The last time the Lady Vols were run-ruled was against none other than the Crimson Tide, who defeated them 9-0 in the SEC Tournament in 2023.
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The series’ opener marked the beginning of what served as the No. 9 Lady Vols (38-8, 12-6 SEC) seniors’ final scheduled home series of the season, and it came against a tough opponent in No. 2 Alabama (44-4, 15-3 SEC).
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After the festivities wrapped and the firework dust settled, Karlyn Pickens took the circle. After a quick first out, Brooke Wells continued to slug as she launched her 20th home run of the season, a solo shot to give Alabama an early lead.
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“We didn’t give ourselves a chance,” Tennessee softball head coach Karen Weekly said. “They’re a really good team. They capitalized on everything that happened in the game. We didn’t play well in any phase of the game.”
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Yet the biggest issue on the night for Pickens wasn’t the contact, but the amount of free passes she was allowing.
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By the end of her outing, Pickens had walked four batters and hit two more, marking six free passes. She ended her night with only two runs allowed due to an error, but five runs still crossed while she was in the circle.
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“Very uncharacteristic,” Weekly said. “She’ll have her walks here and there, but she’s usually able to bounce back pretty quickly from them, and not let an inning get away, as the third inning did, but she’s human.”
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Peyton Hardenburger entered in relief, where she escaped a tough jam for Pickens by striking out Wells. Yet the momentum didn’t stick as she finished her day with just two outs posted, four runs allowed — two earned — while walking two and hitting another.
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That brought the game total to nine free passes, being either a walk or a hit-by-pitch. While Erin Nuwer, who entered the game in the fourth, didn’t walk any batters, she still yielded a three-run home run in the later stages of the game.
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While the pitching struggled, the offense amassed just two hits, one of the two coming in the first at-bat of the game from Sophia Knight.
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Over the last three games, the Lady Vols have scored just five runs and need an answer fast.
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The Crimson Tide’s starter, Jocelyn Briski, has been a force all season long. Saturday night was no different. She went all five innings, allowing two hits, no runs, walking one and striking out six.
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“It takes consistently good at-bats, and I thought early in the game it looked like we were overswinging a little bit, and got into some hitters’ counts and then maybe did some guessing as to what was going to happen,” Weekly said. “That sort of let (Briski) get back into it, she’s really good.”
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Hitters in the spots two through six went a collective 0-for-9 on the night against Briski.
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The Tide’s staff will not be an easy one to break through. The team’s season ERA stood at 1.62 entering Saturday’s contest.
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“We have to flush that, and come back tomorrow ready to play a different ball game,” Weekly said. “I know we’re fully capable of playing a different game; none of us have seen that all season long.”