Meghan Gregg has taken over the lead-off spot for the Lady Vols this season, and she has not disappointed. After entering last weekend’s Tennessee Invitational batting 0.179 and having only one home run, Gregg hit an unprecedented 0.688 with four homers during the five-game tournament.
Her play in the Tennessee invitational helped her earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
Co-head coach Karen Weekly said the coaching staff has always believed in Gregg’s ability as a lead-off hitter.
“We just sort of force the issue with Meghan in terms of her role in our batting order and the responsibility,” Weekly said. “We just sorta said, ‘You know what, we don’t care that you’re batting 0.179. You were meant to be at the start of the order. We believe in you’ … You saw this weekend what Meghan Gregg can do.”
Adding Two More: The Lady Vols added two more games to their schedule on Monday. Their original single-game matchup against Illinois State Tuesday has been upgraded to a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. at Lee Stadium. Tennessee also added a game against Tennessee Tech on March 25 at home beginning at 6 p.m.
Weekly was excited to add the games and get her team more game experience with SEC play around the corner.
“You wanna play 56 games. That just helps your kids,” Weekly said. “At the end of the season, I think that prepares you more for postseason play … It also puts your kids in the best position to win postseason honors. It’s not really fair to them when other teams have a 56 game schedule and numbers from 56 games and you only play 50 or 51. We wanna get as many games in as we can under the rules.”
Keeping the Streak Alive: This Thursday’s game against the South Carolina Gamecocks will mark the first SEC series of the season for the Lady Vols. Tennessee has won 28 straight games against the Gamecocks, with its last loss coming on April Fool’s Day in 2003. Since then, the joke has been on South Carolina, as the Lady Vols have beaten the Gamecocks by a combined score of 157-37 since the 2003 loss.
Weekly praised South Carolina as a program and knows the Gamecocks will be hungry to break their 12-year losing streak.
“We’re gonna look forward and not look back,” Weekly stated. “South Carolina is a rising program … They’re trying to crack that top half of the SEC, and they’re recruiting better and better players. It’s going to be a very competitive series.”
The Week Ahead: The Lady Vols will begin their doubleheader at home against Illinois State Tuesday at 5 p.m. On Thursday, the Lady Vols will travel to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks in a three-game series that will be broadcast on the SEC Network +. The series starts on Thursday at 6 p.m., goes through Friday at 2 p.m., and concludes on Saturday at 1 p.m.
