The message made its way Sunday afternoon from pitcher Ashley Rogers through Tennessee’s team trainer to Lady Vols softball coach Karen Weekly: Rogers over and out.
“She’s done for the day.”
The senior right-hander had managed her health through the regular season with the intent of pitching in the postseason.
The former Meigs County standout threw 161 pitches in a 13-inning shutout against Mississippi State earlier this month in the SEC softball tournament. Rogers won the first two games this weekend of Tennessee’s NCAA regional. She went the final three innings of Friday night’s victory over Campbell and came back Saturday to pitch a shutout against Oregon State.
But Rogers was fresh out of pitches after one-plus innings of Sunday’s final against the Beavers. Tennessee’s season ended a few hours later.
Oregon State won the aforementioned game, 8-3, to force another game. In the decisive second game, Beavers freshman Sarah Haendiges and Mariah Mazon outdueled UT graduate transfer Erin Edmoundson and Oregon State advanced, 3-1.
“We played them in Palm Springs (early in the season) and knew how good they were,” Weekly said. “We knew how good their pitching was.”
The final sentence summed up the weekend and why Oregon State (36-20) advanced to its first Super Regional since 2006 while No. 11 Tennessee (41-18) was knocked out in the regional round for the second consecutive season. The Beavers will play fellow Pac-12 member Stanford, which upset No. 6 Alabama at a regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Mazon pitched the first game on Sunday, going the distance. She hit a three-run homer to boot. Her two-run homer was the decisive blow of the second game.
Rogers had gotten the best of Mazon in Saturday’s winner’s-bracket game, allowing two hits while striking out eight. The victory avenged a 5-2 loss to Oregon State during the regular season. Mazon struck out 11 in that game and gave up just one earned run.
“Of course, I was not happy about how the last time went – when I pitched against them last time and I had that little bandage on my shoulder,” Rogers said. “I just wanted to not let myself get too amped up about that.”
Tennessee ended up going as far as Rogers could go. Weekly was asked Sunday about the possibility of an encore and Rogers returning for another season.
“It’s something we don’t talk about until the season is over,” Weekly said.
One way or another, pitching will be a compelling topic. Edmoundson won’t be back and UT sophomore Ryleigh White, despite a strong late-season performance against Auburn, is largely unproven.
If Rogers doesn’t return and Tennessee doesn’t add another transfer, the Lady Vols’ best bet might be incoming freshman Karlyn Pickens. The 6-foot-1 right-hander from Weaverville, N.C., is the No. 2 ranked pitching prospect in the Class of 2022 according to Extra Inning Softball.
Last Saturday, Pickens threw a 13-inning shutout in a regional victory over Crest. Pickens threw 164 pitches, allowed just one hit and struck out 29.
Afterward, teammate Molly Clark told the Asheville Citizen Times: “She pitches her heart out.”
It all sounded so familiar, so Rogers-like.
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who covered University of Tennessee athletics from 1988-2019. He can be reached at ddanfleser3@gmail.com.