Tennessee softball didn’t need a signature moment Sunday, just a day of fundamental softball.
The Lady Vols defeated Virginia 5-1 in the Knoxville Regional championship game at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, winning the rematch after a 7-5 victory Saturday to advance to their fourth straight super regional. Tennessee (45-10, 16-8 SEC) held the Cavaliers (40-15, 13-10 ACC) to one run on two hits.
Karlyn Pickens was not at her sharpest, but she came back stronger from each rough patch. She walked four batters, hitting two more and allowing two, but she finished with nine strikeouts.
“Karlyn is such a warrior,” head coach Karen Weekly said. “The bigger the game, the more she digs deep and steps up. The bigger the moment in a game, the more she digs deep and steps up. It’s really awesome as a coach to play behind somebody who is going to fight that hard.”
After a five-run first inning in Saturday’s opener, Tennessee’s offense was quiet to start Sunday. Sophia Knight grounded out and Alannah Leach struck out to open the first, but freshman Elsa Morrison gave the Lady Vols a spark. She drew a walk and stole the next two bases to put herself 60 feet from the game’s first run. Emma Clarke flew out to left to strand her.
Despite a walk, Pickens cruised through the first two innings. She forced five outs on the ground and in the air while adding a strikeout to keep the game scoreless into the third frame.
Taelyn Holley opened the third with a walk and moved to third on a pair of wild pitches. Knight plated her with a sacrifice fly to left for a 1-0 lead. Leach and Morrison added a walk and a single, but Clarke grounded into an out to strand both.
Virginia answered immediately. Pickens cut down the first two batters of the bottom half before the wheels came loose. A walk, a stolen base and a double tied the game at one, and a hit batter loaded the bases before Pickens escaped on a strikeout.
Tennessee took the lead right back in the fourth.
Ella Dodge singled and Gabby Leach moved her to second. With two outs, Holley ripped a line drive to second that the Cavaliers’ fielder couldn’t handle. Dodge came all the way around from second, scoring to put Tennessee back in the lead.
Pickens found herself in even more trouble in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, she surrendered a single, hit a batter and walked another to load the bases. A groundout to Bella Faw ended the threat without damage.
The Lady Vols extended the lead in the fifth. Knight singled and Morrison walked to put two on, and Makenzie Butt slapped a single through the middle to score Knight and make it 3-1.
Holley fell into a 1-2 count but ripped her fifth home run of the year into center field to extend the lead to 4-1. After Faw walked and a sacrifice bunt moved her to second, Alannah Leach drove her home with a double off the center field wall to make it 5-1. Morrison walked for the third time in the game, but Clarke struck out to end the inning.
“She’s a professional hitter,” Weekly said of Holley. “And sometimes you just have to find your way back to who you are. Her reset moments today were brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.”
Holley, who had a difficult stretch in the middle of the season, said trusting her teammates and coaches helped her work through it and get to this moment.
“Just being able to trust that and know that one of them is going to fall and to build and continue off of that,” Holley said. “Just being able to trust the process gives you more confidence in each at bat, and that’s what happened today.”
The Cavaliers went down in order in the bottom of the sixth on two groundouts and a fly ball. Tennessee could not add insurance in the seventh, but Pickens made it irrelevant.
After issuing a leadoff walk, she retired the next three batters to seal the regional title.
“The main thing for me is just always competing,” Pickens said. “Having a mindset of we’re down one or 0-0. That’s what keeps my mind in the right spots. If you’re treating the game like you want to learn from it, then it keeps you competing and in the right mindset.”
Tennessee will now host Georgia in the super regional, its fourth straight season being the home team.
“Georgia has one of the best offenses in the SEC this year, and if you’re the best in the SEC, you’re the best in the country,” Weekly said. “We also have the best pitching staff. We have a dynamic offense that is hitting its stride when we need to be hitting our stride. It’s going to be a battle.”
