Senior Ellen Renfroe has proven she is among the nation’s elite pitchers, but with only two series’ remaining, the No.8 Tennessee Lady Volunteer softball team is still finding itself struggling with consistency from the rest of its young pitchers.
Renfroe has started 26 of Tennessee’s 45 games so far this year, and has compiled a dominant 23-5 record to go along with her 1.95 ERA. When Renfroe isn’t in the circle, though, the Lady Vols have struggled with getting outs.
Sophomore Erin Gabriel was a highly-touted recruit coming out of high school, but injury issues forced her to miss most of her freshman season, as well as fall practice. She has pitched in 19 games this year and achieved a 5-0 record, but has not quite been the same since her injury.
“We had counted on Erin Gabriel being the Erin Gabriel of old,” co-head coach Ralph Weekly said at Wednesday’s media availability. “She missed the whole fall because of surgery, and when you miss the fall in this game it really hurts you in the spring.”
With the postseason approaching, it is important to have a second pitcher team’s can rely on. Many times teams will be forced to play two or even three games in one day, and one pitcher can’t pitch every inning of those games.
Sophomore Rainey Gaffin and junior Cheyanne Tarango have also given Tennessee solid innings this year, but neither has been able to separate themselves and grab the No. 2 role.
“One game, one of them is really good, and we have not identified that for-sure No. 2 yet,” Weekly said. “But all three of them have thrown really good innings in the last week and a half.”
Lady Vols flex their muscles
While the Tennessee offense has been inconsistent at times this year, the Lady Vols have the potential to put runs on the board in a hurry thanks to their ability to hit the long ball.
In last weekend’s series with Mississippi State, Tennessee hit five home runs in a game for the second consecutive weekend. This gave UT 62 total home runs on the season, while they have given up only 29.
“We don’t try (to hit home runs),” outfielder Melissa Davin said. “Definitely we want them, but if we make perfect contact then the ball is going to go. We just can’t try too hard on some things.”
The problem for the Lady Vols this year has been consistency. Tennessee hit five home runs in Saturday’s game, but in Friday’s game one of the series they recorded only three hits and failed to get on the board.
With a team that is built on a youthful foundation, inconsistency is bound to happen, but it has been up to the three seniors on this squad to be leaders when the bats are struggling.
“I know for myself, I need to be more consistent for the underclassmen to look up to me,” Davin said. “I work on that daily, but I feel our freshman are no longer freshman, and they have stepped up and are acting as veterans.”
Weeklys welcome Tyndall
Co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly were able to meet with new men’s basketball coach Donnie Tyndall at his introductory press conference Tuesday afternoon, and Ralph was able to find a handful of similarities between the two.
Both coaches have worked their way up through the ranks, an experience Weekly said drives coaches to push themselves and be successful.
“I was really impressed by (Tyndall),” Ralph Weekly said. “We talked about the fact that he and I and Butch Jones started at the division three level, went to mid-level and then got here to Tennessee and that’s what we all strive for.
“I think we’re hungrier when we come up through the ranks. I think that’s why he’s going to be a great hire, coming up through the ranks and having to work with nothing and sleep in his car like all the rest of us at that level. I think he’s going to be great for Tennessee.”
