No. 1 Tennessee softball suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, but had a chance for a quick turnaround with none other than senior Karlyn Pickens returning from injury and taking the circle.
The Lady Vols defeated Mississippi State 4-1, claiming their second conference series win of the young season at Nusz Park in Starkville. Pickens tossed all seven innings, striking out six and allowing one run.
The Tennessee training staff removed Pickens from her last start on March 3 in a midweek contest against Belmont. The injury was marked as a shoulder strain, and she missed the first conference series of the season against LSU as a result.
After being shut out in the middle game of the weekend set against the No. 14 Bulldogs, the Lady Vols’ (27-1, 5-1 SEC) offense came into the rubber game looking for some firepower from anyone.
Ella Dodge walked, but she emerged as the only baserunner of the first inning for Tennessee as Makenzie Butt ended the inning, striking out. Mississippi State (27-4, 1-2 SEC) couldn’t touch Pickens in its half. She struck out the leadoff batter before sitting down the next two.
Sophomore Leila Ammon started the game for the Bulldogs, and by the second inning, she looked sharp. She struck out all three batters for an efficient frame. Pickens answered with her own three-up, three-down stanza. It wasn’t until the third inning that the Lady Vols’ offense got going to pick up their senior pitcher.
Taelyn Holley led off with a double before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt. A wild pitch scored the first run of the afternoon, giving Tennessee an early 1-0 lead. Mississippi State freshman Gabby Schaeffer connected on a one-out pitch in the bottom, sending it over the center field wall to knot things up.
Pickens’ hiccups continued. She walked the next two batters, but bunkered down and forced two outs, preventing any extra damage to keep things even.
Emma Clarke notched her fifth home run of the season in the top of the fourth, giving the Lady Vols their one-run lead back while tallying her 19th RBI of the campaign. Pickens regained focus, allowing only a single runner to reach on an error to capitalize on a shutdown bottom half.
Bulldogs’ relief arm Peja Goold regrouped after allowing the homer and pitched a scoreless fifth. Pickens’ walk struggles continued into her half. She awarded two in the same inning, moving her total to four free passes on the afternoon.
Even with the command issues, she managed to escape a number of jams. Goold and Pickens continued to duel until the seventh. Alyssa Faircloth entered for Goold, inheriting runners on second and third with none away.
Tennessee cashed in. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ella Dodge sent a single to center field that scored two runs, one runner reaching home on an error.
With a 4-1 lead, Pickens trotted out to close the game. After two quick groundouts, she struck out her sixth batter to end things and score the Lady Vols a big series win.
Tennessee will have a few days off before hitting the road for its second straight road series, a meeting with Florida beginning on March 20.
