Tennessee softball now knows what stands between itself and its third-ever appearance in the Women’s College World Series finals. With No. 2 Texas’ 3-1 win over No. 4 Nebraska on Sunday afternoon, the No. 7 Lady Vols will play the Longhorns on Monday, June 1, to decide who advances
Tennessee has an advantage in the series, though. As winners of its opening two games of the WCWS, the Lady Vols will get two tries to win one game to advance. Texas will need to beat Tennessee twice to move on to the national title series.
The first game is scheduled for noon ET and will air on ESPN. If a second game is necessary, it is slotted for 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The other set of games, which will be between Alabama and the winner between Texas Tech and UCLA, will be played later that day. The finals series will begin on June 3 and be played on consecutive days until a winner from the best two out of three is determined.
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Tennessee’s matchup with Texas will be a familiar one, as well. This will be a rematch of the opening round of the WCWS. In that game, the Lady Vols won 6-3 thanks to timely hits and strong pitching. Elsa Morrison hit a three-run shot to take an early lead and additional runs scored thanks to a wild pitch, Gabby Leach single and Emma Clarke sac-fly.
In the circle, Sage Mardjetko got the start and went four innings while allowing just one hit and no runs. Karlyn Pickens came on in relief, throwing three innings while allowing four hits and two earned runs.
Texas is also the team that ended Tennessee’s season in the WCWS semis a year ago. The Lady Vols were tasked with beating the Longhorns twice that season to advance, but fell short in the first game to the eventual national champions.
