Softball Central: Lady Vols in Tennessee Invitational

Live Stats | Charleston Southern Notes | South Alabama Notes | Tennessee Notes | Toledo Notes

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Friday marks 278 days or nine months and two days since Tennessee softball last played in front of its home crowd. The Lady Vols will make their first appearance at home since the 2017 season as hosts of the Tennessee Invitational in a Friday-afternoon matchup against Charleston Southern.

Tennessee welcomes Charleston Southern, South Alabama and Toledo to Sherri Parker Lee Stadium for the annual Tennessee Invitational.

UT enters the weekend with a 16-1 record and sits ranked No. 5 in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. The Lady Vols return home after going 6-0 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic and beating top teams from the PAC-12 including No. 5/2 Oregon. The Big Orange also swept the Kaijkawa Classic and when 4-1 at the Michele Smith Invitational.

Tournament Schedule
All of the tournament games can be followed on UTSports.com with selected games available for viewing on SEC Network+ through the Watch ESPN App. Live stats can be viewed by visiting the schedule page and clicking the "Live Stats" link for each game.

The full tournament schedule can be viewed below. All time are listed as EST.

Friday, March 2
Charleston Southern (H) vs. South Alabama | 10 a.m.
Toledo vs. South Alabama (H) | 12:30 p.m.
Tennessee (H) vs. Charleston Southern | 3 p.m.
Tennessee (H) vs. Toledo | 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 3
Toledo (H) vs. Charleston Southern | 10 a.m.
Tennessee (H) vs. South Alabama | 12:30 p.m.
Seed #1 (H) vs. Seed #4 | 3 p.m.
Seed #2 (H) vs. Seed #3 | 5:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 4
Loser G7 vs. Loser G8 |9:30 p.m.
Winner G7 vs. Winner G8 | 12:30 p.m.

Need to Know
Tennessee's CLEAR BAG POLICY will be in full affect for the Tennessee Invitational and all home games held at Parker Lee Stadium.

The Lady Vols games on Friday and Saturday can be viewed on SEC Network+ and on the Watch ESPN App with former Lady Vol Madison Shipman and Michael Wottreng on the play-by-play for the weekend.

History in the Tennessee Invitational
This will be the Lady Vols' fifth time hosting the Tennessee Invitational but that is not to be confused with the Tennessee Classic or the Lady Vols Spring Invitational. Tennessee is 19-0 all-time in the Tennessee Invitational.

Strikeout Season
The Lady Vols have recorded 117 strikeouts so far this season which is fourth in the SEC, but lead the conference in strikeouts looking with 33. Sophomore Caylan Arnold had recorded 73 K's which places her second in the SEC and she leads the conference in strikeouts looking with 21.

Holcomb Stepping Up
Sophomore Jenna Holcomb has increased her batting average and is now second on the team with a .455 average. She is currently on a 12-game hitting streak, which includes her 3-for-3 effort in the win against #5/2 Oregon in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.

Leading off with Leach
Aubrey Leach has a .529 on base percentage as the leadoff batter for the Lady Vols. She is tied for first in the SEC in runs scored this season with 23 and is second in the conference in walks with 16. Leach has the most plate appearances of anyone in the SEC with 68.

Scouting Report

Charleston Southern
The Buccaneers come to the Invitational with a 13-3 overall record and are riding an eight-game win streak that began back on Feb. 18. They are led by junior outfielder Jade Gandara who has six home runs and 22 RBIs this season.

All-Time Record vs. Charleston Southern
Tennessee is 4-0 all-time versus Charleston Southern and the two teams last met on May 16, 2014, when the Big Orange won, 12-3, in five innings.

South Alabama
This meeting will be the first meeting between the two teams, but five of the Jaguars 16 games have been played against ranked opponents. They defeated then-No. 9 Florida State, 3-1, on Feb. 21. South Alabama is led by sophomore infielder Brittani Read who has a .214 batting average and a .600 slugging percentage through 15 games.

Toledo
The Rockets won their last four games after starting the season 3-3 and are led by freshman Bailey Curry who has a .375 batting average with 12 hits. Junior pitcher Heather Webb has a .088 ERA and a team-high 18 strikeouts this season. The Weeklys' granddaughter, Taylor, is a freshman on the softball team.

All-Time Record vs. Toledo
Tennessee won the only meeting between the two teams, 7-1, in six innings on March 3, 2007.

What's Next?
The Lady Vols will start SEC play as they host Missouri at home at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on March 9-11.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Caylan Arnold

Jenna Holcomb

Aubrey Leach

University of Tennessee Athletics