Why Tennessee softball has utilized pitching staff differently, and why it's worked

Tennessee softball has had three true aces on its pitching staff before, but it has never used them like it has this season.

During Karlyn Pickens' freshman season in 2023, the Lady Vols worked with a rotation of Ashley Rogers, Payton Gottshall and Pickens, and the trio led Tennessee to the Women's College World Series for the first time in eight years.

Three years later, the Lady Vols have three true aces again with Pickens, Sage Mardjetko and Erin Nuwer. But coach Karen Weekly said they've utilized the staff in a new way.

"I don’t think we ever used them the way we’re using these guys now in terms of preparing people to be a starter, a bridge, or a closer," Weekly said on May 19. "Back then it was more, hey, this is your game, and they went all seven innings."

The depth of Tennessee's staff will be crucial in its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA super regional. The No. 7 seed Lady Vols (45-10) face No. 10 seed Georgia (41-18) in a best-of-three series at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium that begins May 21 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2). The winner will advance to the WCWS in Oklahoma City starting May 28.

The Bulldogs have one of the best offenses in the SEC, and Tennessee's pitchers will have to be at their best to make a repeat trip to the WCWS for the first time since 2013.

Why Tennessee changed how it utilizes pitching staff

The way Tennessee has utilized its staff is a reflection of the evolution of the game, Weekly said, with the way offense has exploded and the average team ERA in Division I has risen the last several years.

"You’re constantly trying to find ways to match your pitchers with different parts of the lineup," Weekly said. "You’re recruiting to find a pitcher who has a specialty that you know can work well against left-handed pull-hitters or right-handed middle, oppo-hitters. So it’s definitely changed how we look at pitching staffs."

It wasn't uncommon this season for Weekly to say they went into the game with a plan to use multiple pitchers. After Tennessee's win over Virginia on May 16, Weekly said the plan was to have Mardjetko and Pickens split it, whether it was four and three innings or five and two innings.

"You watch how difficult it is to face a lineup for the third and fourth time, and then you have these other tools at your disposal – so it was really important to us to use them all in those different positions, so that they would be comfortable," Weekly said. "So you get to postseason and if you’re asking somebody to close, they don’t look at you like, uh oh, I’ve never done that.

"Mentally and physically, they’re prepared. They know how to go warm up to function in different roles, and they just know how to mentally attack those roles."

Karlyn Pickens embracing closing role

Tennessee leads the nation in ERA (1.37) and hits allowed per seven innings (3.46), which isn't an uncommon feat.

But this season, both Pickens (14-7) and Mardjetko (13-2) rank in the top 15 in strikeouts per seven innings with Mardjetko at No. 9 in the nation (9.6) and Pickens at No. 11 (9.5), and both pitchers were named to the All-SEC first team. That wasn't the case when Pickens was the back-to-back SEC Pitcher of the Year the last two seasons and carried most of the load.

Pickens, who missed seven games in March with an injury, only pitched 125⅓ innings this season, but she recorded a career-high six saves and thrived as a closer. Weekly called Pickens "the ultimate unselfish teammate" because she doesn't get caught up in her accomplishments or feel entitled to starting or more innings.

Weekly and pitching coach Megan Rhodes Smith educate their pitchers on their strategy, which is framed around who's going first and second and how many times they want to get through the lineup.

"Our pitchers have really embraced the game plans," Weekly said. "We were very transparent about what we're doing and why we're doing it, and I know they just really trust Megan as their pitching coach, and trust me in the decisions I make, and if they weren't all in, it wouldn't work."

Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social‬. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Tennessee softball has utilized Karlyn Pickens, pitching staff differently