Big Orange Report June 5, 2025

 


At This Writing

The Tennessee Diamond Vols were still in the hunt to advance. The softball squad squeezed out a nine-inning victory over UCLA when senior shortstop Laura Mealer blistered a single to left field with the bases loaded to send the Bruins packing. Mealer, the transfer from Middle Tennessee in her second season with Tennessee, has been on fire for the entire post season. She has had 16 hits in 28 times at bat and that figures to an average of .571.
Ironically, the bases were loaded because the UCLA head coach elected to intentionally Sophia Nugent and McKenna Gibson prior to Mealer's game winning smash to left field. The only answer must be that the Bruins feared the home run ball off the bats of Nugent or Gibson.
Pitching ace Karlyn Pickens battled back from a two-run homer that tied the game in the top of the seventh to slam the door and get out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the ninth. Pickens threw 142 pitches in this game and survived turning her ankle in the sixth frame to finish the contest and pick up the win.
The SoftVols have made it to the semi-finals for the second time in the last three years and were scheduled to face Texas on Monday. The Longhorns are unbeaten after knocking off defending champion Oklahoma on Saturday. Tennessee has a steep hill to climb here because they would need to beat Texas twice in order to qualify for the best two of three championship series. Obviously, UT needs a gritty effort from No. 2 pitcher Sage Mardjetko if they have a shot at getting past Texas.  
Starting with the SEC tournament and on into the NCAAs, the Lady Vols have seen freshmen step up and contribute in significant ways. Ella Dodge, Emma Clark and Saviya Morgan look like stars in waiting for this program when next season rolls around. The team will miss Gibson, Mealer and Nugent, a trio of seniors that are out of eligibility at the conclusion of the World Series in Oklahoma City.
Baseball
The Volunteers rolled into Sunday with a record of 2-0 in the region and needing just one victory to advance to the Supers in Fayetteville to face the Razorbacks. Wake Forest had battled through the loser's bracket after dropping their opening game to Cincinnati. The Demon Deacons were going for a regional record of most homeruns, coming into the game against the Vols with 13 bombs in three games. They hammered two more homers in this game.
The contest was tied 6-6 into the late innings but in the bottom of the ninth Wake loaded the bases with no one out. Tennessee walked in the winning run and this series goes to Monday with a Super Regional trip on the line.
Back to the Future
The majority of the Tennessee football team is back on campus now and summer workouts are underway. Some players are still rehabbing from surgical procedures and injuries but most of them are expected to be full-go by August when the team practices get underway. This summer the players can conduct individual workouts including the quarterbacks throwing passes to the wide receivers.  
What all this means is that it is time for the BOR to begin the annual series of articles, Meet the Vols. It will be an in-depth introduction, position by position, to the players who are expected to significantly contribute to the efforts on the gridirons this autumn. One thing that may not be apparent but might be true is that the roster has seen an upgrade in athletes and pure athletic abilities. There is some young talent at wide receiver and in the secondary if the coaches can get them ready to compete at an SEC level.  

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