How Tennessee softball can return to the Women's College World Series

Tennessee softball earned a top-8 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years.

The Lady Vols are the No. 4 national seed, which gives them hosting privileges through to the College World Series, if they move up to the super regional. Tennessee will host Indiana, Louisville and Northern Kentucky in the Knoxville Regional at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium starting Friday.

The regional winner will advance to the super regional — which takes place May 25-27 — and face the winner of the No. 13 Texas Regional, which hosts Texas A&M, Texas State and Seton Hall.

Here’s how Tennessee can make its eighth Women’s College World Series appearance and return to Oklahoma City for the first time since 2015.

SEC TITLE SCAN:Tennessee softball wins SEC tournament to sweep conference titles for first time in program history

REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS:Tennessee Lady Vols softball wins SEC Regular Season Championship for second time in program history

DRY PRICE:Tennessee softball’s Karlyn Pickens and Karen Weekly win SEC Freshman Coach of the Year

Pitch must be near perfect at Knoxville Regional

The Knoxville Regional is home to the best punchers in the country.

Tennessee’s Kiki Milloy leads the nation with 23 home runs, but Indiana’s Taryn Kern and Louisville’s Taylor Roby are tied for second in the nation with 22 apiece. The Lady Vols’ throwing depth has been their strength all season – their 1.52 ERA ranks 4th in the nation – and they need to be honed to avoid a surprise.

Senior ace Ashley Rogers — whose 0.72 ERA ranks third in the nation — may need to be used more than she did in the regular season. Tennessee has had a consistent rotation of three starters, but Rogers has the most playoff experience. The deep rotation has given Rogers enough rest throughout the season to be at his best right now, and it showed it with a complete shutout and a save in Tennessee’s SEC tournament title race. .

Karlyn Pickens is a concern for the pitching staff. The SEC rookie of the year looked like she put her midseason struggles behind her until she couldn’t make it past the first inning against Alabama in the SEC Tournament semifinals . Tennessee needs Pickens ready for the big stage, not just as added depth, but because she brings a different look with a fastball that hits the mid-70s.

Tennessee must return to sharp defense early in the season

Tennessee’s defense has come forward in a big way in recent games, but there have also been some unusual mistakes that have surfaced over the past two weeks that cost them — or could cost them in the NCAA Tournament.

After winning the SEC tournament, coach Karen Weekly said she wanted Tennessee’s defense to be a little cleaner. Weekly wants the Lady Vols to get back to the very good defense they started the season with, which is “a matter of getting back to training”.

“I don’t think there were any errors on the score sheet that in a coach’s book would have been errors, just miscommunication,” Weekly said. “You start, the second half of the year and you don’t have as many training opportunities or you have injured people, so you can’t bring the reps to training. But we just have to clean up some communication things so that we make every inside ball an out.”

Lady Vols will have to rely on every batter

Tennessee’s offense has been on another level all season. His 7.06 points per game ranks second in the nation and his .425 on-base percentage ranks third.

But there was one key improvement during the SEC tournament: production from the bottom of the order.

Sophomore outfielder Katie Taylor, batting ninth, homered a two-run homer that ended up being the difference in Tennessee’s 7-6 win over Alabama in the semifinals. Rookie Jamison Brockenbrough, eighth at bat, went 3-3 against South Carolina in the final, and it was his two-RBI single that gave Tennessee the 3-1 victory.

“What was exciting this weekend was seeing this production from the bottom of our order,” Weekly said. “We’ve had production in a lot of different places, but I think this team has yet another gear in terms of, just a one-to-nine chain reaction.”

Tennessee’s plate mentality also improved during the tournament. The Lady Vols constantly attacked and if they didn’t have their best at bat, it didn’t impact the next one.

“If Lair stays in the dumps, there’s no way she’ll face Alabama, one of the biggest hits of the weekend,” Weekly said. “You’re talking about Katie Taylor and her coming on with this big hit. So you’ll never be able to say, ‘Oh, everyone was awesome’, but it’s their ability to bounce back and react in no time. competitive way.”

How Tennessee softball can return to the Women’s College World Series

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