Junior pitcher Karlyn Pickens started Tennessee softball's matchup with No. 1 Texas on Friday, but she threw only one inning before she was pulled from the game, which the Longhorns won 3-0 in Austin, Texas.
Pickens (15-4) struck out two and walked one. She didn't return to the circle with the score 0-0 in the bottom of the second inning. Freshman Erin Nuwer entered the game instead.
When Tennessee coach Karen Weekly was asked about Pickens' status during her interview with ESPNU between the third and fourth innings, Weekly said Pickens was fine and it was part of the game plan.
"There's nothing wrong with Karlyn, she's great," Weekly said with an upbeat tone. "Just something that we've kind of thought about doing, kind of see how the game is flowing, and I kind of stuck with my game plan going in."
Going into the matchup, Pickens was No. 4 in the nation with a 0.94 ERA, No. 5 in hits allowed per seven innings (3.75) and No. 10 in strikeouts (153).
Pickens is having an unprecedented junior season after winning SEC Pitcher of the Year in 2024. She threw the fastest pitch ever recorded at 78 mph against Arkansas on March 25, surpassing her 77 mph that tied Monica Abbott's record.
Nuwer gave up a single before forcing three groundouts to end the second inning. But in the third, Texas' offense started getting hot.
Nuwer struck out the first hitter, but the Longhorns got on base the next at-bat on a hit-by-pitch. They took a 3-0 lead by the end of the inning.
Nuwer (5-3) was relieved in the fourth by freshman Peyton Tanner, who had thrown just 20⅔ innings this season. Nuwer ...
