Tennessee has college softball's best pitching. Can it get the Lady Vols back to the WCWS?
Here's a closer look at the pitching for Tennessee softball, with the Lady Vols having three of the top 12 players in Division I in ERA
In college softball , pitching has an outsized importance, with shorter games and an underhand, windmill motion that allows elite pitchers to go deeper into games than most of their baseball counterparts. By the time the NCAA tournament and the Women’s College World Series roll around, a team can ride a single star hurler deep into the event, as Texas Tech and NiJaree Canady showed last year. When it comes to prowess inside the pitching circle this season, there’s no team in the country that can match Tennessee .
REQUIRED READING: Why Tennessee softball has utilized pitching staff differently, and why it's worked The Lady Vols have what’s likely the most effective and deepest battery of arms at the Division I level, with three starters who are among the top 12 players nationally in earned run average — Erin Nuwer, Sage Mardjetko and Karlyn Pickens, all of whom have earned run averages below two. As Tennessee gets ready for its series against SEC mate Georgia in the best-of-three Knoxville Regional this week, it will lean heavily on at least two of those players to try to get back to the Women’s College World Series for the third time in the past four seasons. Just how good has Tennessee been in stymying opposing bats this season?
Here’s a closer look at the Lady Vols ’ extraordinary staff: Tennessee softball pitchers No team has been quite as effective as keeping runs off the board as Tennessee this season. Entering their super regional matchup against Georgia, the Lady Vols are No. 1 among all Division I teams in team ERA at 1.
37. In 37 of their 55 games this season, they’ve held their opponent to one run or fewer. That broader team success has been made possible by a handful of exceptional individual efforts throughout the season.