Tennessee softball received the No. 3 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The seed is the best in program history, beating last season’s No. 4 seed.
The Lady Vols will take on region No. 4 seed Dayton on Friday. Virginia and Miami (OH) will also participate in the Knoxville Regional. Texas received the No. 1 overall seed, with reigning national champion Oklahoma taking the nation’s No. 2 seed.
If Tennessee advances through the Knoxville Regional, it will host the Knoxville Super Regional. The Lady Vols would be expected to play No. 14 seed Alabama but could also meet USC Upstate, Southeastern Louisiana or Clemson.
The Lady Vols enter the NCAA Tournament with a 40-10 record. They went 19-5 in conference play, winning a second straight SEC regular season championship.
Tennessee closed out its home schedule with five straight wins, including a sweep over Kentucky.
Lady Vols look to repeat trip to Women’s College World Series
Last season, Tennessee used its No. 4 seed to its advantage. The Lady Vols went undefeated through the regional round, advancing to take on No. 13 seed Texas in the Knoxville Super Regional.
Zaida Puni’s three-run home run gave the Lady Vols an early lead in the first game of the series, leading Tennessee to a 5-2 win. Tennessee’s hitting exploded in the second game, winning 9-0 to advance to the Women’s College World Series.
When they arrived in Oklahoma City, the Lady Vols went 2-2. They opened their campaign with a win over Alabama before losing to Oklahoma. Tennessee advanced to the semifinal with a win over Oklahoma State, but the Lady Vols couldn’t get past Florida State, causing their elimination.
Lady Vols lose SEC Tournament opener
On Thursday, Tennessee dropped its opening game in the SEC Tournament, losing to LSU, 2-1. The loss was their second to the Tigers this season after taking two of three games in the series in Knoxville.
Karlyn Pickens and Payton Gottshall both pitched for the Lady Vols, splitting seven innings of work and allowing two runs. Tennessee’s offense couldn’t get going, as Sophia Nugent’s RBI single was the only run for the Lady Vols.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed to be heading home after our first game,” Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly said after the loss. “Got off to a little bit of a rough start. Not really characteristic of our pitchers to come out and have those command issues, but I thought we could have overcome that.”
Florida went on to win the SEC Tournament with a win over Missouri. The Lady Vols did not play any other top-4 seed in the SEC Tournament during the regular season.
Karlyn Pickens, Karen Weekly win SEC awards
On Friday, Karlyn Pickens was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year. She finished conference play with a 9-3 record and a 1.70 ERA. The award is Pickens’ second conference award after being named freshman of the year last season.
Weekly won her second consecutive SEC Coach of the Year award after leading the Lady Vols to another regular season conference championship. It is her fourth time winning the award in her career.
Pickens and Gottshall were both named to the All-SEC First Team. McKenna Gibson, Taylor Pannell and Rylie West also received the honor. Nugent joined Kiki Milloy and Puni on the conference’s second team.
