Tennessee softball sits atop the Southeastern Conference. The Lady Vols clinched the outright SEC title Saturday afternoon by taking game two of their weekend series against South Carolina 4-2.
Tennessee enters the final day of the regular season at 41-7 overall and 19-4 in SEC play. The Lady Vols outlasted Georgia over the course of the season to win the program’s second ever SEC Regular Season Championship joining the 2007 team led by legend Monica Abbott.
Karen Weekly’s 22nd team at Tennessee, and second team as independent head coach, dropped just once SEC series (at Arkansas) while earning ranked series wins over LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M and Kentucky.
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A fantastic three woman pitching staff has driven an abundance of success for Tennessee this season. Super senior Ashley Rogers continued her brilliant career by posting a 15-1 record and 0.76 ERA as the Lady Vols’ ace.
Bowling Green transfer Peyton Gottshall has been effective in 20 appearances and 13 starts in her first season in Knoxville, posting an 11-1 record and 1.82 ERA. Freshman Karlyn Pickens has been the Lady Vols’ third arm where she’s posted an 8-5 record and 2.34 ERA in 22 appearances and 74.1 innings over the course of the season.
At the plate, Kiki Milloy is one of the SEC’s best. The senior is hitting .418 with a Tennessee program record 20 home runs and 48 RBIs. Sophomore McKenna Gibson has also been a force at the plate, hitting .379 with 15 homers and a team-high 57 RBIs.
Tennessee concludes its regular season Sunday afternoon at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium before heading to Fayetteville next week for the SEC Tournament. The Lady Vols are looking to win their third ever SEC Tournament and leave Fayetteville with a better taste in their mouth than they did last month.
