Big Orange Report May 22, 2025

 


Super Showdown


The SoftVols will host Nebraska in the Super Regionals this weekend with a trip to the Softball World Series in Oklahoma City on the line. This matchup should be one of the marquee showdowns in the eight supers. Former two time national champion at Oklahoma, Jordy Bahl, will  lead the Cornhuskers into Knoxville after blazing through the Baton Rouge regional.
Tennessee took care of business and proved the old adage in baseball and softball, "Good pitching stops good hitting" almost every time. The Lady Vols beat the bombardiers from Ohio State twice and limited the Buckeyes to just two runs in 14 innings. OSU led the nation in home runs this season and blasted six round trippers in their opening victory over North Carolina. Tennessee ace Karlyn Pickens was brilliant winning the first battle vs. Ohio State and then closing the clincher on Sunday with two scoreless innings in relief of Sage Mardjetko who had tossed five scoreless against OSU. Mardjetko, the transfer from South Carolina, yielded only two hits and fanned five and Pickens struck out five of the six batters she faced to slam the door and lead Tennessee to its third consecutive Super Regionals.
The UT offense did just enough to secure the wins. A two-run homer off the foul pole on Sunday by catcher Sophia Nugent followed by a solo bomb by sophomore outfielder Gabby Leach an inning later were the big blows in the 5-0 win. Shortstop Laura Mealer was on fire over the weekend going 5 for 7 in the three games with four walks, a double and a grand slam homerun.
Now the Lady Vols await the arrival of Bahl and company. She is the leading contender for national player of the year as a two-way star for Nebraska.  Bahl has 21 wins in the circle with a 1.50 ERA. She bats leadoff and is hitting .465 while launching 21 homers so far this spring.
So it boils down to Pickens vs. Bahl and the question is, who will blink first? The action gets underway on Thursday and Friday with the ESPN networks providing the TV coverage.
Will a Fresh Start Make a Difference
The Tennessee baseball squad is limping into the Southeastern Conference tournament and hoping to wipe away the memories of a regular season that left the coaching staff and team looking for answers and a shift in fortunes. UT enters the tourney after losing five straight three-game series and six of the last seven in league play.
The Volunteers are the eighth seed in the annual event in Hoover, Alabama and will open with a brunch game at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday against the winner of a first round matchup between Missouri and Alabama. If the Vols win this first game, they will tangle with the No. 1 seed, Texas, on Thursday.  All the games will be televised on the SEC network until the championship affair on ESPN2 on Sunday.
The problems that plagued this team in April and May were not difficult to figure out. Coach Tony Vitello has only two reliable starting pitchers, a bullpen that crumbles more often than it succeeds and a defense that has committed crucial errors at inopportune times. For the most part, the offense has been consistent but there have been moments when too many runners were left in scoring position and potential rallies flamed out.
Still, this team is the defending national champions and the players have a lot of pride and plenty of fight still left in the tank. Maybe a clean slate and a fresh start will be just what the doctor ordered for the Volunteers, but it will still be "a tough row to hoe."
Vol Notes
The Big Orange football squad is on spring break for about another week before most of the players will be returning to campus to start individual summer workouts plus some serious time in the weight and training facilities. A dozen players that are considered important components for this team will continue rehabbing from injury or surgery and most of these players are expected to be ready to go full speed when practice gets underway in August.
Next week will also the signal the start of "exam-cram" time for new quarterback Joey Aguilar. The transfer who bounced from Appalachian State to UCLA and then to Knoxville will join the two young signal callers on the roster for some intense sessions with head coach Josh Heupel and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle. The quarterbacks will also be on the practice field throwing passes to the Vol receivers during the individual work through June and July.
Meanwhile, the defensive staff will be on the hunt for consistent pass rushers to replace first round NFL draft pick James Pearce. Reports are that Josh Josephs is poised to fill that void and there are two or three other very athletic edge defenders that may be ready to blossom into productive players too. 

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