In case anyone was wondering, Tennessee is more than Karlyn Pickens.
During a mid-week game against Belmont, the Vols’ ace exited during the second inning with what was later announced to be a strain in her right throwing arm. The program announced the following day that Pickens would be day-to-day.
Seemed possible, if not likely, that she’d throw this past weekend against LSU.
Pickens, however, did not.
And Tennessee still swept LSU.
No surprise that the Vols held firm at the top of The Oklahoman’s College Softball Super 16 ranking. They are the unanimous choice at No. 1, followed by Texas and Texas Tech. The Longhorns and Red Raiders garnered all the second- and third-place votes.
But the talk of the softball world is Pickens-less Tennessee.
The Vols won the first game 5-0 against the Tigers with a pitching gem from Sage Mardjetko, who threw a complete game and allowed just four hits. The second game of the series was a come-from-behind 11-6 slugfest after Tennessee starter Erin Nuwer struggled and was replaced by third baseman Maddi Rutan, a two-way player who hadn’t pitched since Feb. 14. And Tennessee got the series sweep with an 8-5 win when Gabby Leach hit a walk-off three-run homer in the seventh inning.
Let’s get to the Super 16.
The Oklahoman’s College Softball Super 16
Team, Points (first-place votes), Record, Last week’s ranking
1. Tennessee, 176 (11), 23-0, 1
2. Texas, 162, 22-1, 2T
3. Texas Tech, 157, 25-1, 2T
4. Alabama, 130, 23-0, 5
5. Oklahoma, 126, 24-2, 4
6. Nebraska, 116, 18-5, 6
7. UCLA, 109, 21-3, 7
8. Arkansas, 99, 21-2, 8
9. Florida, 91, 25-1, 9
10. Florida State, 84, 21-4, 10
11. Virginia Tech, 68, 21-2, 12
12. Arizona, 36, 20-5, 14
13. Virginia, 34, 22-2, 16
14. Georgia, 32, 19-7, 13
15. Mississippi State, 29, 24-2, RV
16. UCF, 13, 22-5, RV
Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State, 12, 17-7, 11; LSU, 7, 17-7, 15; Stanford, 6, 14-8, RV; Texas A&M, 4, 17-8, RV; Grand Canyon, 3, 27-0, RV; Auburn, 2, 19-7, NR
Voters: Jenni Carlson, The Oklahoman; Nathan Giese, Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal; Cora Hall, Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel; Eric Lopez, In The Circle; Justin McLeod, D1Softball.com; Joe Mussatto, The Oklahoman; Noah Ram, Gainesville (Fla.) Sun; Colton Sulley, The Oklahoman; Brady Vernon, Softball America; Kirk Walker, Oklahoma City Spark general manager; Scott Wright, The Oklahoman.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Super 16 softball rankings: Will Karlyn Pickens injury hurt Lady Vols?
