University of Tennessee Athletics
Balanced Vols Impress During Fall Ball
October 21, 2015 | Softball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --The University of Tennessee softball team wrapped up an undefeated fall season this past weekend with two more victories at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
The Vols posted an 8-0 record this fall, using dominant offense, pitching and defense to record wins over Alabama-Huntsville, Tennessee Tech, Chipola, Lee University, Tennessee State, Shorter, Chattanooga State and Volunteer State. UT outscored its eight opponents 103-5 and posted a team batting average of .440 while holding opposing batters to just a .136 average.
Tennessee got production throughout the lineup with a solid mix of returners and talented freshmen primed to make a major impact this season.
“We have a lot of confidence in our offense. We have seven starters returning from our World Series team plus several freshmen who bring a lot of speed and pop to the table,” co-head coach Ralph Weekly said.
One of those returning starters, sophomore shortstop Meghan Gregg picked up right where she left off last season and led the team with 16 RBI this fall after tying for the team lead with 51 as a true freshman in 2015. Senior catcher Lexi Overstreet also had a strong fall at the plate, batting .438 while driving in 10 runs.
Despite returning players such as Gregg, Overstreet and Shaliyah Geathers putting up impressive numbers, Tennessee’s highly-touted freshmen class stole the show this fall. Six newcomers hit .375 or better while the freshmen class combined for 46 hits, accounting for nearly 50 percent of the team’s total.
Arguably the most valuable player of the fall was Brooke Vines, who showed off her diverse skill set by doing a little bit of everything for the Big Orange. The freshman from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., led the team with a .640 batting average, 16 hits, 13 runs and two homers to go along with nine RBI and five stolen bases. Vines was ranked the No. 7 overall recruit in Full Count Softball’s Hot 100 and is one of a handful of freshmen who will challenge for starting roles in the spring.
“I saw a higher softball IQ in general from our freshmen class,” co-head coach Karen Weekly said. “They play with a lot of energy and confidence and they’re all ready to compete for starting positions.”
While the offense was piling on the runs, the Vols’ stable of talented pitchers also took care of business. Four of the five pitchers used in the fall didn’t allow a single run while Tennessee posted a team earned run average of 0.56. Freshmen Matty Moss and Bria Bush combined to go 6-0 and allowed only 11 hits in 23.0 innings pitched.
Senior returners Erin Gabriel and Rainey Gaffin were also dominant in the circle. Gabriel went 2-0 and led the team with 19 strikeouts in 13.0 innings while Gaffin, an NFCA second-team All-American last season, allowed only four hits and struck out 11 in 12.2 innings pitched.
We’re going to have five pitchers that are going to pitch at different times, so there’s a possibility we could pitch a lot by committee as we did last year,” Ralph Weekly said. “We’re going to have three seniors and two freshmen, so I feel pretty good about that.”
The team also showed a lot of improvement on defense this fall. Just check out this video of the Vols turning a triple play last Saturday for proof of that.
”We’ve improved quite a bit in our defensive play, which we needed to from last year,” Karen Weekly said.
With its core group of experienced returners and an influx of young talent, Tennessee softball looks poised for another big year in 2016.
Be on the lookout for the 2016 schedule in the coming weeks and make sure to follow Tennessee softball on Twitter (@Vol_Softball), Facebook (Tennessee Softball) and Instagram (Vol_Softball) or visit UTSports.com for the latest news on the team.
