Tennessee softball is off to a 14-0 start, but each game so far has been away from home. Now, the Lady Vols are preparing for their home debut, a five-game event over the weekend.
Before Tennessee takes the field to defend its No. 1 ranking, head coach Karen Weekly met with the media. She was asked about the offensive start, the pitching success, dealing with potential complacency and more.
Here’s what she said.
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On pitcher Sage Mardjetko
“Sage is pitching better now than she ever has. And we saw that in January, the stuff was there. It was just a matter of building her body back up to handle two outings in a weekend, going a full game, those kinds of things. So that’s why we kind of limited things the first weekend out, three, four innings, and then we only let her throw, I think, one day. Well, actually, the first weekend she only threw one day because she had the flu the first two days of the tournament.
“Second weekend threw Friday and Sunday, but still not complete games. And then this weekend was really encouraging to see her get a complete game on Friday and then a complete game on Sunday, ended up being a five-inning game because of what we did offensively, and obviously what she did, throwing a no-hitter. But she’s right where we want her to be. She’s excited about how she’s progressed and how she’s feeling, and she’s throwing the best that she’s thrown in her college career.”
On how she grades her team ‘dominating the process’ this past weekend
“Friday, probably a C- or a D on dominating. And, you know, the good thing Friday is they felt it, too. Even though we won two ball games and only gave up one run, they weren’t happy with their performance, and they knew it wasn’t the standard that they’ve set for themselves. And I’d say Saturday and Sunday A’s. And I love the way we bounce back and rebounded from Friday’s, kind of complacent, I think, lethargic performance.
“And the real test as a coach is you want to see, how do they bounce back? And not only did they bounce back well on the scoreboard, but what’s more important to us is, how are we going about doing it? And they know when it feels right in the dugout, and we’re focused on the right things. And Saturday and Sunday, we did that. And I think what’s really encouraging is Saturday, we put up 17 runs late at night. We sat around all day long, been delayed, and they were completely focused. And then Sunday to come out and play with a lot of focus, again, not letting Saturday’s result lull us back into complacency.”
On seeing the sport of softball grow
“Well, you (Rick Russo) and I are probably close in age. I’m probably older, though. And I think back to what you just said about growing up. I loved playing softball, played in college, but it’s not what it is now. Competitively, we were uber competitive. You just didn’t have the attention surrounding it, the people watching, the TV coverage, just the appreciation for the work you put in. And I think that’s what’s so cool to see. TV has been a game-changer, and it’s such a fast, exciting, fun sport to watch. People who watch it for the first time, they’re hooked. There’s nobody who watches the softball game and says, ‘Oh yeah, that’s boring.’ They absolutely love it.
“And I’m just really proud that our young women are getting the recognition for the work they put in. When I was a college athlete, it was still an era where the guys got the recognition and the attention, and women were not really treated the same. And it’s been such a blessing to be at Tennessee, where women are valued, and have been valued ever since I got here 25 years ago, but just now to see the public appreciate the skills that these young women have and how hard they work. That’s pretty cool to see.”
On the team taking accountability for not meeting standards on Friday despite winning
“Well, it speaks to the leadership on the team. And it starts with our senior Karlyn Pickens. She was one of the first ones to speak up in the post-game huddle and say, ‘That’s not Tennessee softball, and every day you’ve got to come out here and play our standard. And there’s no excuses for not doing it.’ And Ella Dodge and Emma Clarke and Amaya Doyle, they’re our leadership council, and they all set the tone. There’s no question, and everybody is following that lead.”
On if the team’s maturity is the team’s best trait
“It’s one of the best traits, for sure. And, you know, it’s interesting, because we’re young by grade, but we’re very mature in terms of how we want to go about playing the game and just the buy-in. And I want to give a shout-out to our coaching staff, too, because you don’t have the kind of success we’ve had without people working really, really hard. Megan (Rhodes) Smith does a terrific job with our pitchers and putting together a game plan. Craig Snider with our hitters, a lot of study into our opponents and a lot of work on our game plans and preparing them to execute different game plans. Stephanie Sanders and Aubrey Leach(-Gartner), they do the defensive work and our positioning and our shifts and things like that.
“I couldn’t have a better staff in terms of how hard they work and what they’ve done to prepare these young women. But then the maturity comes from our team buying in, and our team following the game plan, not second-guessing, not trying to go off script, not being on their own agenda. And the maturity is there from that. But again, I think it’s the leadership. It’s when you’ve got somebody as accomplished as Karlyn, who doesn’t start down in Clearwater, comes in in relief a bunch and says, I trust the game plan. I’m fine with this. Pretty tough for anybody else to go off script.”
On the impact assistant coach Craig Snider has had on the offense
“It takes a while when you have a change in coaches, for your team to really understand and adopt what a new coach is bringing. And I think you saw that last year, there were certain things that we started to get better at, but not completely. And this year, you’re really seeing his philosophy come to fruition, which is we’re really going to focus on our approach at the plate. We’re going to focus on our ability to handle different types of pitchers, our ability to adjust quickly when a pitching change is made, our ability to execute situationally. We’re not relying on one thing. We’re not just waiting for the home run to happen.
“And I think you’re seeing that play out in our offensive production and how we’re winning and scoring runs in a lot of different ways. We’ve got speed. We have the ability to hit and run, to bunt and run, to sac-bunt somebody over, to execute a slap that’s going to move a runner, to run a ground ball go play with runners on third. And then the home runs have come just through really buying into what you’re looking for and being willing, as a hitter, to sell out on that. And I think that’s where Craig makes the most impact, is just getting the players to believe in it and to trust and to understand, ‘Hey, as long as you’re committed to what you’re looking for, the results don’t matter.’ And that’s where you see the alignment with our coaches. We’re very process-focused. It’s not about the results. It’s about the process that they adopt when they’re in there.”
On what’s special about this team, why they’re 14-0
“Well, I think first it’s you have to be complete in all phases of the game, pitching, defense and hitting. And everything in softball starts in the circle and the depth of the pitching. When you look at the three who’ve thrown the most innings, and really, every time one of them gets out there, they’re an ace, there’s no question. And I felt that in the fall that we had three that would probably be the No. 1 pitcher on any team they were on. And then we’re playing good defense behind them. And I think that’s a product of obviously good ball players, but a whole lot of work. And again, credit to Steph and Aubrey.
“But also, we have a pretty set lineup this year. Last year, if you look at our lineup, from day one to the last day of the season, only two people were in the same position, center field and catcher. And so far this year, we’ve been able to keep people in the positions that they’ve worked at, and so there’s a consistency and a comfort when they go out there. And then again, we’ve talked about the hitting, and one through nine, we expect everybody to do something, and everyone’s buying into the role that they’re called upon to do. So again, we’re not relying on any one thing, but all three phases of the game are complementing each other well. And I’ll go back to the leadership all day long. The leadership on this team is really good.”
On the home debut
“Well, we’re super excited to get back to Sherri (Parker) Lee Stadium and play in front of the most amazing fans in the country. And I know they’ll be out there. Late February, it’s almost hit or miss with the weather, but looks like we’re going to have some 60-degree days, so that’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be a great tournament. I’ll tell you, the ultimate trap game for our team is three o’clock on Friday against Appy State. Appy State is a very, very good team, and we need to approach Appy State, just like we have approached most of our opponents this year, and be at our best in dominating our process. Penn State is also a very good team, P4 program, and they’re off to a great start, too. And then we’ll see North Carolina Central on Saturday. But first things first, Friday, three o’clock, we need to be ready to play. We need to show up playing Tennessee softball.”
