Tennessee softball made a memorable run in the Women’s College World Series last spring, getting to the brink of the final championship series before being eliminated by SEC rival Texas.
A year later, the Volunteers continue to show those national title dreams from 2025 are very much in play for 2026. Tennessee improved to 10-0 on the young season on Sunday afternoon with a 9-1 victory over Florida State at the Clearwater Invitational in Florida. It was already the 4th win over a top-10 team for the Vols this year, as No. 3 Tennessee dominated the 7th-ranked Seminoles to stay perfect through 10 games.
Florida State fell to 8-2 as the latest ranked victim of Tennessee’s early season push to get back to Oklahoma City for a shot at the national championship again. Texas went on to win it all last spring after eliminating Tennessee, and now the Volunteers look determined to go the distance this time around. They are certainly off to a flying start in that direction, with pitcher Karlyn Pickens improving to 3-0 already this season by earning Sunday’s win.
The senior Pickens relieved Sage Mardjetko with 2 outs in the 2nd inning, getting out of a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout. The Volunteers ace finished with 4 strikeouts, walking 2 while only allowing 1 hit in 5.1 innings of work.
Pickens got plenty of support from Tennessee’s high-octane offense, which was ignited by a 3-run homer from Ella Dodge in the first inning. The Vols never looked back in the beatdown of the Noles, serving notice early in the season that they want to go just a little further in 2026 than they did last season.
Tennessee won 5 games in all in Clearwater, outscoring its opponents by a combined 43-2.
The Vols also piled up 46 hits and belted 7 home runs over the dominant weekend in Florida.
They’ll look to keep their early season roll going on Friday against Missouri State.
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.
