Tennessee pitcher Karlyn Pickens did it again.
The Volunteers softball legend added to that legend in Knoxville on Saturday by tossing her 4th career no-hitter in a 5-0 blanking of Kentucky in Lexington. Making Pickens’ latest SEC softball heroics that much more special is that the senior has now managed to throw a no-no during every season of her brilliant career.
Pickens has spoiled Volunteer softball fans since she arrived in 2023, and now she’s officially made a no-hitter an annual rite of spring at Tennessee. This time, it happened on the road, where she stifled Kentucky batters all afternoon. Pickens helped the ninth-ranked Vols improve to 35-6 overall and 10-6 in the SEC, and she did it by throwing less than 100 pitches.
Tossing 99 pitches, 65 of them for strikes, Pickens walked 1 batter and hit another. But she didn’t give up a hit in the shutout of Kentucky, which fell to 24-20 overall and 1-15 in the SEC. Pickens struck out 12 Wildcat batters in her latest show of greatness on the mound.
The North Carolina native’s list of honors at Tennessee read like a long roll call. She was the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2023, setting the tone for her incredible run in Knoxville. She’s a 2-time All-SEC First Team selection, with those coming in 2024 and 2025. Pickens was also named SEC Pitcher of the Year after the previous 2 seasons.
The 2-time Consensus First Team All-American has become a national star, too, and Pickens still has a few more months to do a few more great things in a Tennessee uniform.
Pickens added yet another chapter to her personal portfolio on Saturday against Kentucky.
Like our coverage? Make SDS a preferred source in your searches!
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
