A day after No. 1 Tennessee softball suffered its first loss of the season, the Lady Vols got great news. Superstar pitcher Karlyn Pickens returned from injury and got the ball to start in the decisive game three at Mississippi State.
There weren’t many signs of rust for Pickens nearly two weeks removed from her last outing. Instead, she dominated, pitching the entire seven-inning game while allowing just one run on one hit and four walks and tossing six strikeouts on 111 pitches. This improves Pickens to 7-0 on the season.
This terrific showing in the circle was enough to secure the series win over the Bulldogs. Tennessee won game three 4-1 with the bats finally starting to show up. UT got its first run on a wild pitch in the third, but used an Emma Clarke solo shot in the fourth and an Ella Dodge two-RBI single in the seventh to take a lead and create a cushion.
B1: she’s back ⛽ pic.twitter.com/A0sFxtJ85n
— Tennessee Softball (@Vol_Softball) March 15, 2026
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Pickens missed time due to arm soreness. She suffered the injury early in her outing against Belmont, tried to keep going, but ultimately decided she would not be able to. The following day, Tennessee listed her as day-by-day.
Without Pickens, top-ranked Tennessee still dominated. The Lady Vols relied on a handful of pitchers, mostly Sage Mardjetko, Erin Nuwer and Maddi Rutan, to fill her void. The team went on to hold off Belmont, sweep LSU, fly past Austin Peay and Lipscomb and split the first two games at MSU before Pickens’ return.
Tennessee will be back in action next weekend with no mid-week clash scheduled. This time, it’ll be another big-time SEC test, a road trip to Florida. Game one on Friday is slated to begin at 6 p.m. ET. Saturday is at 1 p.m. ET with the first two matchups airing on SECN+.
The final game three is scheduled for noon ET and will air on ESPN2.
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