Lady Vols open Knoxville Regional with shutout win as Pickens tosses a gem

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WCYB) — The Tennessee Lady vols (41-10) won its 52nd regional game in program history as Karlyn Pickens earned her 20th victory of the season with a gem in the circle - shutting down Dayton in a 3-0 win in the opening game of the 2024 Knoxville Regional.

With its three-run win, Tennessee improves to 37-0 this season when it scores three-plus in a game.

The right-hander Pickens tossed her 14th complete game and picked up an 11th shutout as she held Dayton to two hits. Pickens was efficient as she tallied 12 strikeouts on 76 pitches over seven innings of work.

At the plate, Destiny Rodriguez drove in a pair of runs in the second inning to spark the offense to a 2-0 lead. Following that, Sophia Nugent added a little insurance in the fifth as she knocked a single through the left side of the infield to tack on Tennessee's third run of the game.

Tennessee is back in action on Saturday as it faces Virginia in the winner's bracket game at 1 p.m. ET. The winner of game three will advance to Sunday's game six, while the loser will have to play in game five on Saturday night at approximately 6 p.m.