Why Karlyn Pickens, Payton Gottshall are lethal pitching duo for Tennessee softball going into NCAA Tournament

Karen Weekly has two very different − and equally potent − weapons at her disposal on her pitching staff.

The Tennessee softball coach has Payton Gottshall, a veteran who can "spin the heck out of the ball" and has a similar look to former UT star Ashley Rogers, who was the 2023 NFCA Pitcher of the Year. Weekly also has a rare gem in sophomore Karlyn Pickens, who this season became the only UT player besides the great Monica Abbott to win SEC Pitcher of the Year.

"Karlyn is doing something that, really, college softball hasn't seen," Weekly said Wednesday. "It's not like you can go, 'Oh yeah, remember last year when we faced 76 mile an hour so-and-so?' People just don't see that."

Tennessee is the only team in the nation with two pitchers whose ERA ranks in the top 10. Gottshall, who was an All-SEC first team selection, has an ERA of 1.25 that ranks No. 8, and Pickens is at 1.26 for No. 9. Tennessee's combined staff ERA of 1.48 ranks No. 2 in the country.

The pitching duo has led the Lady Vols to a second straight SEC regular-season championship, and they could very well lead them to a second straight Women's College World Series appearance. It all starts at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium when No. 3 overall seed Tennessee (40-10) takes on Dayton (33-19) on Friday (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+) in the NCAA regional in Knoxville.

Miami (Ohio) (48-7) and Virginia (32-18) will play in the first game Friday (noon, ESPN+) of the double-elimination tournament. If the Lady Vols win Friday, they'll play at 1 p.m. Saturday.

What makes Tennessee softball pitching duo lethal

Pickens (19-6) starts more often than Gottshall (19-4), but the pair often split games and Weekly isn't afraid to adjust on the fly.

Weekly has noticed teams seem to be more prepared for one pitcher than the other. If an opponent is starting to get a hold of what one pitcher is doing, Weekly can rely on the fact that neither is one-dimensional. But she can also switch it up.

Pickens started the SEC Tournament loss to LSU before Gottshall came in for two innings. But Pickens ended up closing the game out.

"You can always go to the other one, and then it's a completely different look," Weekly said. "It's really hard for a team to adjust."

Redshirt freshman Taylor Pannell has an intimate knowledge of how difficult it is to hit against the Lady Vols pitchers after going up against them in practice. Pickens has logged 10 shutouts in the 13 complete games she has pitched.

"Those are the two best pitchers in the country," Pannell said. "No one really throws how Karlyn throws, how hard she does ... but Payton, she can spin it like no other."

Pickens' speed is a rarity in college softball. She regularly hits the mid 70s with her fastball. What separates her is her changeup – most pitchers who throw with that velocity don't have a changeup like Pickens, Weekly said. She refined the pitch in the offseason, and now she throws a changeup as slow as 60 mph, giving her a 15 mph difference in speeds.

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If Weekly feels like opponents over-prepared for Pickens' speed, she can throw in Gottshall, who throws a lower speeds but attacks the strike zone at an elite level.

"What I enjoy is just having those options there and how competitive they both are," Weekly said. "And they show up every day ... there's not a day where they come and say, 'Yeah, I'm not really feeling it today coach.' "

NCAA Tournament Knoxville regional

Friday

Game 1: Miami (Ohio) vs. Virginia, noon (ESPN+)

Game 2: Dayton vs. Tennessee, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Saturday

Game 3: G1 winner vs. G2 winner, 1 p.m.

Game 4: G1 loser vs. G2 loser, 3:30 p.m.

Game 5: G3 loser vs. G4 winner, 6 p.m.

Sunday

Game 6: G3 winner vs. G5 winner, TBD

Game 7: G6 winner vs. G6 loser (if necessary), TBD

Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Tennessee softball pitching can lead it back to College World Series