Tennessee may be Oklahoma’s hardest examine for another WCWS Title | Killexams.com Resources

The girl Vols are set to face both-time reigning champs within the second circular on Saturday, and have the talent crucial to drag a massive upset.

It’s complicated to compete for oxygen with a historically talented squad riding a list win streak and aiming for its third straight championship. however don’t be fallacious: No. 1 Oklahoma isn't alone on the girls’s college World collection. There are seven different groups competing right now in Oklahoma metropolis. And the Sooners’ subsequent opponent can present a few of their steepest competitors.

Don’t sleep on No. four Tennessee.

It’s no surprise the woman Vols are here: They boast one of the foremost sluggers in the nation in senior Kiki Milloy and a pair of aces in Ashley Rogers and Payton Gottshall. however they’ve raised the bar in playing some of their top of the line softball of the year so far this postseason. After cruising via regionals and super regionals (they went 5–0 and outscored their opponents forty two–6), they persevered in an identical trend in their first video game of the WCWS on Thursday. towards No. 5 Alabama, Tennessee romped to a 10–5 win, jumping out to an early lead it in no way relinquished.

That sets up a matchup with Oklahoma on Saturday, which naturally items a problem. however Tennessee feels assured—as a result of its contemporary wins, yes, however additionally as a result of how it got them.

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Their double-digit outburst on Thursday didn’t hinge on creation from Milloy, or superstar infielder Zaida Puni, or from any one else close the properly of the lineup. instead, it changed into their remaining few hitters who did the bulk of the hurt. It was No. 8 hitter Katie Taylor who knocked within the first runs of the video game, hitting a double within the 2nd inning, and it was No. 6 hitter Jamison Brockenbrough who linked in the third for the first domestic run of the day. No. 9 hitter destiny Rodriguez contributed just a few key hits to finish 2-for-3. Eight of Tennessee’s 11 hits finally came from the backside 5 hitters in the lineup. And that’s just how they adore it.

“I just told them within the locker room,” Tennessee instruct Karen Weekly pointed out after the game. “The mark of a superb team, a team that may compete for championships, is the bottom of the order. everybody goes to have studs at the correct of the order. but it surely’s those children that don’t get the publicity, their name’s no longer all the time in the headline, what do they do? My gosh, you seem to be at the bottom of our order … They sparked us. They were the heroes.”

The star of this lineup is, surely, Milloy. She led Division I this yr in domestic runs (25) and slugging percentage (.993) and sat close the right of the leaderboard in a slew of alternative key stats. (Milloy become 1-for-three with a walk on Thursday and scored twice.) but there’s more to this roster than simply Milloy. To hold advancing, Tennessee will need to preserve getting this form of creation from the bottom of its lineup. That it might do so against a tricky Alabama pitcher in Jaala Torrence on Thursday may still be a reassuring sign.

Yet the pitching should be probably the most interesting a part of Tennessee’s face-off with Oklahoma. there were two classes in Division I with a crew period below 1.50 entering the WCWS: There turned into Oklahoma, leading the country at 1.00, and then Tennessee, at 1.48. In other phrases? no one might ask for a more robust pitching matchup.

each groups are blessed with dissimilar exceptional alternatives—Jordy Bahl, Nicole might also and Alex Storako for Oklahoma, and Rogers and Gottshall for Tennessee—and may offer a number of looks to attack different hitters. These teams are largely unfamiliar with one a different: They did not play each different within the typical season. nevertheless it’s worth noting there are two Oklahoma transfers on this Tennessee roster. There’s Puni, who transferred final year and instantly found a house at the precise of this lineup, and there’s Mackenzie Donihoo, who become an important piece of the Sooners’ championship run in 2021. Now, she’s on the core of the girl Vols.

“She’s a firecracker,” junior Rylie West talked about of Donihoo. “From day one, she’s been loud, she’s talked. It starts in follow. She’s a competitor in practice, so she’s made us superior in practice, and also you guys just get to see it on the field.”

this is Tennessee’s first time at the WCWS since 2015—meaning it’s the primary trip here for a whole lot of this roster. when they walked onto the box to practice for the first time in Oklahoma city on Wednesday, the players were dumbstruck.

“We were like, in awe, almost,” Milloy noted. “not pretty much. Yeah, i used to be in awe.”

but the girl Vols nonetheless discovered a way to appear perfectly at domestic on that field on Thursday. They’ll are trying to do the identical against a historically complicated opponent on Saturday.