Tennessee’s post-pandemic softball existence finally includes a trip to an NCAA super regional.
After getting eliminated by Liberty in the 2021 Knoxville Regional and getting bounced in last year’s Knoxville Regional by Oregon State, this year’s Lady Vols left no doubt Sunday with a 7-3 defeat of Indiana at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. Tennessee, the No. 4 seed in the 64-team field, swept through its four-team pod by blasting Northern Kentucky once and the Hoosiers twice by the combined score of 28-4.
“I’m super proud of our team,” coach Karen Weekly said after her Lady Vols improved to 47-8. “I just told them to never take this for granted. It’s hard to win a regional. You can see all the upsets all over the country and all the close games.
“They came out, and they earned it.”
Tennessee’s super regional foe in Knoxville will be Texas (45-13-1), the NCAA tournament’s No. 13 overall seed that swept its Austin Regional with an 8-0 blanking of Seton Hall and 2-1 and 11-5 wins over Texas A&M. The Lady Vols will need to subdue the Longhorns in a best two-of-three showdown to reach the eight-team Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2015.