OKLAHOMA CITY — This wasn’t Sage Mardjetko’s first time at the Women’s College World Series, but it certainly was the most memorable.
The South Carolina transfer made just one brief appearance in Tennessee’s 2025 run, pitching two innings and giving up three runs during a run-rule victory over Florida. It was a brief, rough introduction to the biggest stage in college softball.
A year later, she didn’t look like the same pitcher.
Mardjetko played a crucial part in Tennessee’s 6-3 win over No. 2 Texas, holding the top of its lineup hitless and controlling the game early. The junior conceded just one hit and two walks through four innings, allowing the Lady Vols to start 1-0 in a tournament where every pitch matters.
“It just goes back to trusting yourself and the preparation that these coaches put in,” Mardjetko said. “Megan (Rhodes Smith) does a great job scouting our hitters. Just trusting what she calls, executing my pitch, keeping them off balance, mixing spins and locations and throwing the change-up so they (batters) can’t feel settled in the box.”
Tennessee’s game plan was intentional from the first pitch. Head coach Karen Weekly decided to split the game between Mardjetko and Karlyn Pickens, a strategy the Lady Vols have used all season.
The reason is rooted in truth — no modern pitcher benefits from seeing a lineup four times in a game.
“I think it’s hard for any pitcher in today’s game to go seven innings, getting back to the top of the order for the fourth time,” Weekly said. “Anytime you do that, no matter who you are, the advantage starts to shift to the hitters.”
Opening with Mardjetko proved to be the right decision. Texas head coach Mike White admitted after the game that his team was more prepared to see Pickens instead of Mardjetko.
“I think we were more prepared for Karlyn than we were for Mardjetko,” White said. “They have a staff of three. I think the lowest team ERA in the country. Pick your poison. We chose a bit wrong, as I said.”
White’s admission may have been more feasible last year. Pickens started every WCWS game for Tennessee, pitching 22.2 innings over four games. This time around, Mardjetko and the coaching staff both believe in her to perform on the biggest stage.
“It just goes to the confidence and preparation that I’ve had all season,” Mardjetko said. “All these teams we face, yes, they’re good, but they’re not going to do anything that’s crazy unheard of, nothing you’ve never seen before. Softball is softball. It just goes back to trusting yourself.”
Not only was the trust in herself apparent, but Mardjetko’s reliance on her defense was too. The Lemont, Illinois, native recorded just one strikeout, leaning on her defense to make routine plays while not giving up any good looks to batters. She finished her outing with one hit allowed and two batters walked.
While the Longhorns managed three runs in the final three innings, Mardjetko’s four frames of dominance put them too far in a hole to win the game. Tennessee now sits in the winner’s bracket, exactly where it wants to be.
“It’s a really big deal,” Weekly said. “Not just for the rest, but just staying in the winner’s bracket so you’re not immediately turning around knowing your back’s against the wall and that your season could end. It will be nice tomorrow to just kind of breathe a little bit.”
The Lady Vols play host to the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET in the next round of the WCWS.
