Tennessee Lady Vols softball defeated the Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA Softball Knoxville Regional
T6 | TAELYN TATER.
— Tennessee Softball (@Vol_Softball) May 17, 2026
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee softball and the Virginia Cavaliers met for the regional championship inside Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on a hot Sunday afternoon. The Lady Vols took the 5-1 win to move on to the NCAA Softball Super Regionals.
Karlyn Pickens pitched a complete game, recording nine strikeouts and allowing only one run in 126 total pitches. Taelyn Holley hit the only home run of the game, her fifth of the season.
Virginia’s Kelsey Hackett, who tore her ACL in the Atlantic Coast Conference softball tournament, appeared for the first pitch of the game before Jaiden Griffith replaced her in left field.
Taylor Smith took the circle for the Cavaliers and worked around a two-out Elsa Morrison walk that advanced to third on two wild pitches.
Pickens took the ball and retired the side in order. She fanned Bella Cabral with a 70.3 mph heater down the middle. After getting through some misses in the early going, Pickens brought the heat.
She retired the second inning with just a walk given and consistently touched 76.4 mph on the radar gun.
Smith’s control issues fueled Tennessee’s offense to start the third inning. Holley reached on a walk after falling behind 0-2 and made her way to third on two wild pitches. That set up Bella Faw for an RBI sac fly to left, giving the Lady Vols the 1-0 lead.
Then with two outs, Morrison lined a single that ricocheted off Cabral’s glove at third to put two on, but Smith escaped further damage.
Pickens was dialed in and brought the heat for back-to-back strikeouts to begin the bottom of the third inning, but after Jade Hylton worked a walk, Macee Eaton gapped an RBI double to tie the game at one apiece.
Then Cabral took a hit by pitch. However, she appeared to swing in the process, which caused a rebuttal from Tennessee coach Karen Weekly. After a conference on the field, the call stood, but Pickens fanned Reagan Hickey on a 76.3 mph pitch for her fifth strikeout of the game.
This game was minimal on the offensive side, and into the fourth inning, Smith had managed to allow only one run. Then after an Ella Dodge one-out single, she came all the way home after Holley reached on an Alex Call error at second. To that point, Tennessee’s runs were set up off Virginia’s miscues.
Virginia found themselves with bases loaded and two outs in the fourth, but a Hylton fielder’s choice to short that ended in an out at second allowed Pickens and Tennessee to hang on to their 2-1 lead.
Pickens had reached 83 total pitches through four innings and allowed only two hits with three walks issued. Her speed and movement are rare, and Virginia didn’t do much with it throughout her outing.
Smith tossed a solid game for the Cavaliers, and Tennessee had recorded just two hits through four innings of work. Then in the fifth, Sophia Knight lined a leadoff single to right. With one out and Morrison at bat, Knight stole second to get into scoring position before Morrison worked a walk.
The Lady Vols were in a great position to increase the lead and had struggled in the few chances they had to hit with runners on and in scoring position.
Emma Clarke reached on a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners with two outs before Makenzie Butt nailed an RBI single up the middle to bring Knight home for the 3-1 lead.
As the game went on, Pickens came with more. She retired the bottom of the fifth in order and tacked on two more strikeouts to move her to eight on the day. Pickens moved through the zone, and Virginia couldn’t time her up much with the change of speeds going from 76 mph down to 67 or lower.
Tennessee got an insurance run from Holley, who belted a one-out solo home run in the top of the sixth. That was her fifth homer of the season and the first ball to leave the yard on the day.
That was the day for Smith, who finished with a solid effort in 5.1 innings pitched. She gave up four runs on five hits, issued three walks and struck out one in 111 total pitches. Eden Bigham took the circle in relief.
Bigham then lost a two-out, seven-pitch battle with Alannah Leach that resulted in an RBI double to score Faw, who had reached on a one-out walk. Bigham would get out of the inning with a strikeout of Emma Clarke.
Pickens returned to the circle with a 5-1 lead and, after inducing weak contact, retired the side in order. Then she returned for the final frame of the game to shut the door on the Cavaliers, to record her 14th win of the season.
Tennessee will host the Georgia Bulldogs in the NCAA Super Regionals.
