The Official Tennessee Lady Vols Softball at Texas Longhorns Softball WCWS Semifinal Games Thread (Mon. June 1) (NOON ET) (ESPN) (2:30PM IF NECESSARY)

#1,226
#1,226
Woodlawn VOL said:
If we have to win by keeping teams nearly scoreless it makes it tough to be champions. The elite teams have players that are going to hit and score. More years than not we seem to not have enough folks that consistently hit the ball. We have to improve at the plate and be a more complete team. There is no reason to not have good pitching and D and also have a team that can snack the ball and score runs.
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Very true and it's been said for years....We've wasted some of the best pitchers in the game over the years. I wasn't surprised in the least by the outcome today. Honestly I expected it. I've read the Weekly book before.
 
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#1,227
#1,227
SicEmSmokey33 said:
Bama throwing their ace in game 1 imagine that
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Volfan1017 said:
So did we! Sage has been better than Karlyn all year. Infact, a few weeks ago EVERYONE was saying that too.
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Hey, I was just typing out that same message.

IMO, Karlyn was never the same after the injury against Belmont. Obviously, since she was the # 1 draft pick, she probably just needs rest.

Back half of season, I felt much better with Sage out there versus Karlyn.

But for a career, Karlyn was obviously hall of fame worthy. Just not quite a 100% right now....happens a lot to the upper classmen.

For example, I think Texas Tech has a similar situation currently ongoing. Canady isn't quite as effective as previous years.
 
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#1,228
#1,228
You can't say anything other than today was a meltdown. Seeing some of the comments it sounds like this team overachieved this year. On the flip side, they were one win away from the championship series and all they had to do was split.

I agree with others that this is the UT way. Some programs step up in moments like this, while our beloved program seems to find a way to step down.

You could almost see the writing on the wall with their pitcher looked better than Pickens to start the game. Their batters challenged pitches, ours seemed like easy outs.
 
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#1,229
#1,229
Jax_Vol said:
Hey, I was just typing out that same message.

IMO, Karlyn was never the same after the injury against Belmont. Obviously, since she was the # 1 draft pick, she probably just needs rest.

Back half of season, I felt much better with Sage out there versus Karlyn.

But for a career, Karlyn was obviously hall of fame worthy. Just not quite a 100% right now....happens a lot to the upper classmen.

For example, I think Texas Tech has a similar situation currently ongoing. Canady isn't quite as effective as previous years.
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I agree Pickens was not consistently good down the stretch. If I didn't know anything about this program except for the post season I would've wondered why Sage wasn't on the mound event hough she gave up 3 runs in the first game. Pickens control worried me surprisingly. I also noticed she was 15-7 entering the game. I'm sure some of that is a lack of offense but I also agree Terry looks more trustworthy than Canady.
 
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#1,232
#1,232
The score keeps coming up and it felt like we lost by 10, but with our lack of offense it might’ve well have been 19
 
#1,233
#1,233
Karen needs to be working on the portal for big time offensive players. Especially if she continues to play Faw.
 
#1,234
#1,234
Absolute Choke job. We will NEVER win a NC with Karen as head coach. Sure, we will win a lot and get to a WS but we will never win it. After the debacle with Monica Abbott against Arizona, we should have known then it would never happen.
 
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#1,236
#1,236
kregman said:
The score keeps coming up and it felt like we lost by 10, but with our lack of offense it might’ve well have been 19
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Doesn’t matter how many runs we lost by. The point is we didn’t score enough runs to win , or gave up too many runs to win. We lost the last two games we played against Texas and in the WWS. Texas also has outstanding pitching, especially against our anemic hitting.
 
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#1,237
#1,237
dobre_shunka said:
One win shy of playing for a national championship is an indication the game has passed her by?
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Absolutely, not just this year. Don’t think she has changed with the times. We aren’t near as good as the top teams, nor have we been in years. Happens every year and we don’t have an answer
 
#1,241
#1,241
Butch s said:
Not trying to be the old “negavol” but seems like the game has passed Karen by. Happens to everyone
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I said that between 2015-2023 when we didn't go to the WCWS despite having some stacked rosters. Now we've gone three times in four years.

I've had my own critiques of Karen but I don't think anything has passed her by.
 
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#1,242
#1,242
It actually seems that she’s improved this decade. Coaching solo has produced better results thus far and she’s shown that an old guard coach can adjust to the portal era. Many others have not, but she’s been able to use it to our advantage. Obviously need to figure out how to get over the hump and not sure if that is a lack of offensive talent, not a great hitting coach, or a little bit of both.
 
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#1,243
#1,243
How many times has weak bats costs us a Championship? Seems to be our downfall every post season. Great teams drive the ball. Face it, all teams have great pitchers and defense at this level. Must be balanced to win trophies. Getting there is fun, winning is life changing for the team and fans.
 
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#1,244
#1,244
Chickenfarmer said:
How many times has weak bats costs us a Championship? Seems to be our downfall every post season. Great teams drive the ball. Face it, all teams have great pitchers and defense at this level. Must be balanced to win trophies. Getting there is fun, winning is life changing for the team and fans.
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It's the reason Vitello is already a coaching legend.
 
#1,246
#1,246
It has been a great year - not as good as most had hoped - but the team make the final four of softball.

There is a level of luck and everything falling into place in terms of who you play, when you play etc. to win it all.

I'm bummed out, but not enough to forget what the team accomplished.
 
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#1,247
#1,247
Chickenfarmer said:
How many times has weak bats costs us a Championship? Seems to be our downfall every post season. Great teams drive the ball. Face it, all teams have great pitchers and defense at this level. Must be balanced to win trophies. Getting there is fun, winning is life changing for the team and fans.
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Actually, some of these teams do not have great pitchers at least not three and some of them put a pitcher out there way too much. But I guess the opportunities for the ladies are not the same as for the men, so the thought of ruining a player's career is not at strong with softball.

I am amazed at how many games some teams let their ace pitch in a row. Got to be bad for the arm.
 
#1,248
#1,248
Obviously, the season did not end the way I would have liked. But honestly it ended better than I expected.

We had a very young dynamic team that finished third in the NCAA National Championship. I celebrate that accomplishment. Other than KP we do not have a senior that had significant playing time.

Although we beat Texas and Texas Tech once in the WCWS, I had real concerns whether we could beat either a second time. Texas won the SEC Tournament and was ranked 2nd in the nation. Teagon Kavan is pitching at a championship level.

I am so proud of the young women on this team and what they have accomplished. KP is such an ambassador for UT and will be missed.
 
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#1,249
#1,249
If we still have Bella Faw as a starter next year then we failed in the portal…. we need 2 bats in the infield to come from the portal. I mean stud players that played against hard competition. Let them all battle it out and it would make our hitters better.
 
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