Several minutes after Tennessee’s 5-1 triumph over Virginia in the Knoxville Regional’s championship game Sunday afternoon, Lady Volunteers softball coach Karen Weekly and veteran pitcher Karlyn Pickens were asked about the emotions that can accompany outcomes this time of year.
Several Cavaliers players moments earlier had been sobbing after their loss, which signaled the end of their season.
“I just really think that the postseason is about playing for your team, and that’s the bottom line,” Pickens said in the press conference. “This is the most fun I think we’ve had in a long time, just being out there knowing that we’re playing for the girls to our left and right. That’s what can make it so emotional.
“You realize what’s really in front of you and how you’ve worked all season for what can be just one game. The postseason is ruthless.”
When it was Weekly’s turn to answer, she looked at the 6-foot-1 senior from Weaverville, North Carolina, and said: “Karlyn hasn’t experienced losing in the regionals, and she’s probably a reason why we haven’t experienced losing in the regionals these last four years. I did in 2021 and 2022, and it’s a gut punch. It’s really, really hard. There are 48 teams that are no longer playing.”
Pickens wasn’t about to let the Knoxville Regional be her final performance, pitching all seven innings Sunday and allowing two hits during the conquest of the Cavaliers.
Now it’s on to the NCAA super regionals for the seventh-seeded Lady Vols (45-10), who will host 10th-seeded Georgia (41-18) in a best-of-three series at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium with an invitation to the Women’s College World Series at stake. Both Thursday’s 7 p.m. opener and Friday’s 3 p.m. game between Southeastern Conference border schools will be televised by ESPN2, with the if-necessary contest scheduled for noon Saturday on ESPN.
Pickens has appeared in 140 career games for the Lady Vols with 91 starts, assembling a 70-32 record with a career 1.34 earned run average. She was named SEC freshman of the year in 2023 and SEC pitcher of the year in both 2024 and last season.
An arm strain in early March sidelined her for nearly two weeks this season, and that setback and the recovery that came with it prevented Pickens from earning another individual league honor, but she was still named to the All-SEC first team and to the league’s all-defensive team.
“The main thing for me is just always competing and having the mindset that we’re down one or that it’s a 0-0 game,” Pickens said. “That’s what keeps my mind in the right spots.”
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Pickens began her career as Tennessee’s third starter behind Ashley Rogers, the former Meigs County standout, and Payton Gottshall. She has spent the past two seasons topping a trio that currently features junior Sage Mardjetko and sophomore Erin Nuwer.
Her pitch of 79.4 mph in last year’s super regional against Nebraska set an NCAA record, and she was selected as the first overall pick in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft earlier this month. She is also the first pitcher in Tennessee history to be a part of four consecutive super regional teams.
“I wouldn’t say it’s all been me,” Pickens said. “There have been so many great girls come through this program, and I think that falls back on the culture we have here with Karen. This year, we’ve just been trying to uphold that.
“Just being able to help set that standard of what we want for this program and to see that happen very often now is amazing, and I’m just grateful to be a part of it.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.