Tennessee softball is blending the old with the new this season in hopes of contending for the SEC title and reaching the Women’s College World Series.
After graduating eight players, Tennessee’s roster has undergone a major overhaul. The Lady Vols feature 13 new players, 10 freshmen and three transfers joining the program.
For the players who returned, the emotions are still raw from last season’s unceremonious ending. Tennessee lost in the NCAA regional final on its home field to Oregon State to cap a 41-18 season (15-8 in the SEC).
“I think the sting of how things ended last year is still very fresh for the returners for sure,” Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly says. “I think that just really drives them and the culture they are building every day.”
After winning their first five games, the Lady Vols (6-1) suffered their first loss last weekend with a 5-4 setback to Cal State Fullerton at the Puerta Vallarta Challenge. They will return to the field this weekend in the USF Tournament before their home opener March 3 when they host the Tennessee Classic at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
Center fielder Kiki Milloy remains the catalyst for Tennessee. The senior is batting .435 with a team-leading five home runs, three doubles and 12 runs scored. Last weekend in Mexico, she hit .615 with four home runs, three doubles, eight runs scored and eight RBIs.
“In my opinion, she is the best all-around player in the game,” Weekly says. “She can do everything. I don’t know who else has that combination of speed and power. She is phenomenal and I just love watching her run the bases as much as anything on the field.”
Ashley Rogers has returned for her “grandma season” to lead the Lady Vols pitching staff. But after years of frustrating injury issues, the graduate senior will be closely monitored with her innings to ensure she is healthier down the stretch.
Rogers has started 2-0 with 1.26 ERA, 23 strikeouts and only three walks in 16.2 innings pitched this season.
“She is as healthy as she will ever be,” Weekly says. “When she has enough rest, she is as healthy as anyone in the country. We have just learned over the last four years that she just can’t go day after day after day like some other pitchers might be able to do.”
Portal paying dividends
Although the Lady Vols lost much veteran savvy, they used the transfer portal to help bridge some of the divide. Three transfers – Payton Gottshall, Mackenzie Donihoo and Giulia Koutsoyanopulos – all bring at least two years of college playing experience, and two have made trips to the Women’s College World Series.
“It allowed us not only to address our needs, but also we ended up with a lot of experience,” Weekly says. “When you looked at our team through the fall, we had a lot of freshman but it didn’t feel like, ‘Oh man, we are really slowing down because we are young.’”
The three transfers are filling key roles for the Lady Vols.
Gottshall, a senior transfer from Bowling Green, has been a major addition to the pitching staff. Gottshall registered a program-record 784 career strikeouts at Bowling Green and left with a 1.77 career ERA.
In her first two appearances as a Lady Vol, she is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA, 12 strikeouts and one walk in 9.1 innings.
“This is obviously her first time competing against this type of schedule day in and day out. But she’s had success against Power Five teams,” Weekly says. “She is excited about the opportunity to bring her skill set to this level. And what I like about her is she wants the ball and when she gets it she just gets after it.”
Donihoo and Koutsoyanopulos are leading the Lady Vols in batting average, with Donihoo hitting .524 with six doubles and eight RBIs and Koutsoyanopulos batting .455 with three doubles and seven RBIs.
Koutsoyanopulos, a junior transfer from Arizona and member of the Italian National Team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is starting at catcher for the Lady Vols
“Her softball IQ is one of the best I have ever coached,” Weekly says. “She is a really intense player. She sees everything and she knows what is going on Donahoe the field. She knows how to handle pitchers and I really want the ball in her hands a lot more than just a handful of times in a game.”
Donihoo, a senior transfer from Oklahoma, was a breakout star for the Sooners at the WCWS in 2021. She is starting at shortstop for Tennessee.
“She just has that fire and energy that she brings to the field every day,” Weekly says. “She plays with such passion and is constantly talking. She’s grown up on the dirt and really does a nice job in the middle infield.”
Youngsters already contributing
Among the 10 freshmen, Karlyn Pickens, Taylor Pannell and Destiny Rodriguez have contributed the most. Pannell is batting .357 and Rodriguez has been a starter at second base.
Pickens, a 6-foot-1 right-hander who was the 2020-21 Gatorade Softball Player of the Year for North Carolina, is 1-1 with a 1.20 ERA, 10 strikeouts and no walks in 11.2 innings.
“She is going to be a big-time contributor for us in the circle,” Weekly says. “She can throw with really good velocity. She is consistently in the low 70s and also understands and really buys into changing speeds and the importance of movement.”
Given some of the offensive weapons lost to graduation, the Lady Vols needed other returning players to fill the void behind Milloy. Sophomore McKenna Gibson and junior Zaida Puni have helped with run production. Gibson has three home runs and 10 RBIs and Puni has two home runs and a team-leading 12 RBIs.
It’s been a largely auspicious start for the Lady Vols, but it’s how they perform at the finish that matters most to them.