Karen Weekly explains pulling Karlyn Pickens in fourth inning

Tennessee‘s first game at the SEC Softball Tournament was delayed but is now underway against LSU. Head coach Karen Weekly decided to put Karlyn Pickens in the circle, hoping for a smooth start. Instead, after 3.1 innings, a pitching change was made as the Lady Vols turned to Peyton Gottshall.

Weekly explained the decision, saying Pickens was getting behind too often. LSU was finding a way to get on base, having three hits and most annoyingly, drawing three walks. Not what Weekly wanted to see from one of her best pitchers.

As for the decision to bring in Gottshall, the matchup against Kelley Lynch — LSU’s starting pitcher but stepping into the batter’s box — was one Weekly preferred.

“Karlyn had been getting behind,” Weekly said when speaking to ESPN’s Alyssa Lang in the fourth inning. “I gave her some time to try work out of that but we were still getting behind. They end up seeing a lot of pitches when we do that. I just felt like the hitter that was coming up when Peyton came in was a good matchup for her.”

When Gottshall entered the game, LSU had a runner on third base with just one out. A base hit or any kind of fly ball into the outfield was likely going to score a run. Weekly took some time to prepare her outfielders if the scenario arose.

“I was just telling them ‘You know what we got to do here. We got a runner on third, we can’t let this runner score. So, do whatever you need to do and hopefully, we’ll get a pop-up.’ And we got a pop-up,” Weekly said.

Lynch wound up fouling out to the third base side, not allowing the runner to advance. And then Karli Petty hit a long ball to the warning track but fell just short. Weekly’s pitching change not only worked, it likely saved Tennessee from being in a further hole.

Tennessee now has a deficit to overcome, looking to advance to the semifinals of the SEC Softball Tournament. Being the No. 1 overall seed, the Lady Vols were thought to be the favorite after just dropping five conference games during the regular season.

Otherwise, attention will have to be turned to the NCAA Tournament. And while that will be the main focus eventually, leaving Auburn with a trophy has to be at the top of their minds.