Lady Vols One Win From OKC After 3-1 Game One Victory over No. 10 Georgia
Image: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
By Aidan Sidoti
KNOXVILLE – No. 7 overall seed Tennessee softball is one win away from becoming the first team to punch its ticket to the Women’s College World Series after taking Game 1 of the Knoxville Super Regional with a 3-1 win over No. 10 Georgia on Thursday night.
Senior pitcher Karlyn Pickens, the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Blaze in the 2026 AUSL Draft, delivered another dominant postseason outing, per usual. The two-time SEC Pitcher of the Year struck out 10 Bulldogs in a complete game performance, allowing just 1 run across 7 innings to put Tennessee on the brink of its 10th overall WCWS appearance.
The Lady Vols backed Pickens with three solo home runs. Junior Sophia Knight opened the scoring in the first inning with a blast to left center to give Tennessee a 1 to 0 lead. Sophomore Emma Clarke followed later in the inning with another solo shot to stretch the advantage to 2. Junior outfielder Alannah Leach added the final insurance run in the fifth with a towering solo homer over the center field wall.
With a win today, Tennessee would return to Oklahoma City for the second straight season, a feat the program has not achieved since Karen Weekly’s teams made three consecutive WCWS trips from 2005 through 2007. Georgia is fighting to extend the series and force a decisive Game 3 as it looks for its first WCWS appearance since 2021.
First pitch today is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on ESPN, with an if necessary Game 3 set for 11 a.m. ET on Saturday.
