KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee softball hosted Lee on Friday night in the last fall action of the year against outside competition. The Lady Vols took a 14-1 win. The Lady Vols continued to see a great amount of hard hit balls. That is something that head coach Karen Weekly has made a point of emphasis throughout this period, and Friday was the best showing yet.
“I think we were above 50% tonight on hard hit balls, which is the best we’ve done in a game this fall,” Weekly said. “And I think they’re seeing all their hard work paying off. They’ve been working hard, but there’s some times we’ve had to kind of push the sense of urgency to make the adjustments. But they’ve responded.”
It was a great fall for the Lady Vols against outside competition. While the competition didn’t exactly give much resistance, maybe that is something Weekly and the program can figure out in the future to get more quality looks in the fall. Weekly acknowledged as much after the game.
“That’s one thing that I wish we could do over, just schedule a little bit differently to get some more competitive pitching on the other side to really challenge our hitters,” Weekly said. “But that’s what our intersquads are for.”
Tennessee still has fall work to come, with a pair of intersquads including a final session open to the public Thursday, Oct. 29 at 5 p.m. Here are my takeaways from Friday night.
Bailee Shelton shines as a freshman two-way player
Bailee Shelton got the start in the circle and opened the game by striking out the side, all three swinging. She does a good job of getting ahead in the count but can also come back from a backward count. She fell behind 3-0 on the last hitter of the first and came back for the strikeout.
The only hit she allowed was a two-out double to Alyson Jarvi in the second. Shelton moved the ball around the zone well to keep hitters off balance and finished with seven strikeouts and one hit allowed in 3.0 innings.
“I like her pace, and her teammates love playing behind that,” Weekly said. “When you work at a pace like that, there’s no opportunity to dwell on something. The pitch is gone. Get the ball. Let’s go. Next pitch. I think she threw a lot of strikes tonight. I thought she threw her rise ball really effectively tonight and mixed her fastball, slash drop in well with it.”
Shelton also hit seventh and snuck an RBI single up the middle in the first, though she was called for leaving early on the bases after. She later moved to first base and played the position well. She took command on a catch in foul territory back toward home.
“She’s one of those players that can step right in,” Weekly said. “Doesn’t need practice. She just wants to get in and play.”
Discipline and power at the plate
The Lady Vols have shown great discipline at the plate this fall. Sophia Knight opened the first with a four-pitch walk and scored on a Karley Shelton RBI triple to the right field corner.
Elsa Morrison and Emma Clarke have kept their power on this fall, and both homered in the first. Morrison connected to left field and watched it fly, while Clarke smashed hers to straightaway center. Morrison added a leadoff triple off the right field wall in the third. She’s seeing things well and making smart decisions at the plate.
“It’s such a difference watching a sophomore versus a freshman,” Weekly said on Morrison. “She’s attacking pitches early in the at bat. There’s no hesitation. Every single pitch has a life of its own, and she’s looking for a ball she can drive.”
Karley Shelton has been one of the most consistent bats in the lineup this fall. Her RBI triple to the right field corner in the first set the tone, and she has been driving the ball with authority all fall. She gives Tennessee a steady presence at the plate to go with her glove at second base.
“I knew what she could do, but probably didn’t know the extent of how good she is,” Weekly said. “She is a really, really, really good hitter.”
Taelyn Holley has made adjustments to her swing since Ehren Earleywine arrived. She swings with a plan and has attacked the middle of the field consistently.
Halle Bailey showed her speed with an infield hit and a stolen base and drove in a run with a two-out double in the seventh. Bailey has good strength for her size and knows how to hit her spots, even with that slapper motion. Meredith Barnhart added two RBIs and a stolen base.
“That’s going to be hard to keep out of the lineup with what she can do,” Weekly said of Bailey. “She’s such a good slapper, and right now we’re having her swing away all the time so she can get better at that. But she still has a really dynamic slap tool in her tool belt, too.”
Tennessee as a whole had a good night at the plate. There were some times they got a little outside of their discipline and chased on some things, but overall it was a great night.
Baserunning needs errors need cleaning up
Barnhart and Rutan were caught in a rundown between first and second in the game, and Bailee Shelton was doubled up on a baserunning mishap as well. The aggressiveness is good, but Tennessee has to make sure it is smart with it.
Infield doesn’t let much go by
Weekly has kept mostly the same lineup in the field all fall, and it’s a communicative group comfortable in its roles. Bella Faw at shortstop and Karley Shelton at second are as solid as they come in the middle infield. Clarke has held down third base with fluid motion and on-time, on-target throws to first.
“Early in the fall when we decided we’re going to put her there and kind of see what happens, it didn’t take us too long to realize she’s doing really well,” Weekly said of Clarke. “We just need to leave her there so she can get more and more comfortable.”
Clarke has also become the infield’s loudest voice.
“There’s no question she’s the voice that you hear first, and everybody listens to,” Weekly said.
Barnhart has done her job at first base. Weekly mentioned that Makenzie Butt and Amayah Doyle are nursing injuries, so that spot is worth watching in the spring.
“First base is probably the one that’s still a little bit up in the air, in part because two of our first basemen have been out so much of the fall,” Weekly said. “But that’s allowed Meredith Barnhart to get a ton of reps and for her to get comfortable over there. So there’s always a silver lining to everything.”
Pitching depth and options
Maddi Rutan took over in the fourth and attacked the zone. She settled in, showed an effective changeup and finished with seven strikeouts in 3.0 innings, allowing only an infield hit to Kaylee Wilson on a borderline call at first. Rutan is really comfortable with the change in speeds, and the progress is evident.
“Maddi just competes her tail off,” Weekly said. “When Maddi just kind of clears her head and just has this attitude of, I’m just going to beat you every pitch, you get really good results out of her. And we’re going to need that.”
I am interested to see how much she will be relied upon in the spring. Tennessee has really good depth in the circle, and that could be huge when the meat of the schedule hits. Weekly called the arms behind Sage Mardjetko and Erin Nuwer the biggest question mark of the fall, but one she feels good about.
“We believe that Maddi and Bailee and Maggie and Peyton can all step in and provide really, really good innings at an SEC level,” Weekly said. “But that’s probably the one thing we just haven’t seen enough of.”
Maggie Krause entered in the seventh and took a comebacker off her right thigh but remained in the game. She had an up and down outing, but it was great to see her remain in the game and work through it. This is what fall ball is for, and Friday night was beneficial for her.
“I like the way Maggie had a rough inning, some hard hits, they scored a run, but it didn’t faze her at all,” Weekly said. “And I think that’s a sign of our entire freshman class. They’re pretty low drama type people.”
Illegal pitch calls a recurring theme
Three Tennessee pitchers drew illegal pitch calls. Shelton was called for one in the beginning, Rutan was called twice before recording her first strikeout, and Krause was called twice in her first frame. It’s a call that has come up a few times this fall and something to clean up before the spring. Weekly made it her message in the postgame huddle.
“For all the good things we did tonight, that’s got to get cleaned up,” Weekly said. “We’re eight games into this and we’re still getting illegal pitch calls. You’ve got to be disciplined every single pitch you throw in your bullpen so that becomes a habit. We’ve got arms and elite stuff, but an illegal pitch can wipe all that out in a second.”
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