Softball players – all the stick sports, actually – are creatures of habit. Special bat. Pre-game ritual. Same meal. Certain music. Seat in the dugout.

Uniforms, however, are rotated in orange, white and blue variations for Tennessee. It takes hours to properly clean uniforms starting with soaking in a special solution to remove grass and dirt stains from the jerseys, pants and socks. Rotation is essential in a sport that plays consecutive days in three-game series, especially for the support crew.

On Sunday, the Tennessee softball players wanted to again wear their Summitt Blue uniforms. Facing elimination in the Super Regional after dropping the first game to Nebraska, the Lady Vols donned the blues and won Saturday. That started an early clock to get the uniforms clean, and loads of laundry were washing early Sunday morning.

In an epic battle between two elite pitchers in Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens and Nebraska’s Jordy Bahl, the Lady Vols won 1-0 and earned the program’s ninth trip to the Women’s College World Series. The blue uniforms, inspired by the legacy of the late Pat Summitt, looked pristine at first pitch.

The Summitt Blue uniforms were immaculate at game time.

The two head coaches, Karen Weekly and Rhonda Revelle, are close friends and both spoke highly of the other’s program and the atmosphere of the series.

“I just want to congratulate Nebraska on a tremendous season and being such an incredible opponent,” Weekly said. “We knew when they won their regional and we won ours, and we were going to match up that, honestly, this was a World Series-type game and that’s what you had out there.

“Two, incredible – two, I mean, the absolute best in our game – pitchers going at it.”

Tennessee’s full press conference can be watched HERE.

Revelle said, “I want to thank the University of Tennessee for putting on a great event. I thought your people did an amazing job. I thought the product on the field was excellent. I thought the gameday atmosphere was excellent.

“It really reminded me of Lincoln and our fans were here rooting like crazy like your fans, but you’re so respectful. I felt like the team played that way too. I thought it was really fierce competition all the way through.”

Nebraska’s full press conference can be watched HERE.

Last week’s column noted that all eyes would be on the Super Regional in Knoxville. A ballyhooed matchup doesn’t always live up to the hype. This one did.

The Cornhuskers took the first game, 5-2, on Friday and knocked out Pickens early in the third inning. Weekly made the move to Sage Mardjetko, who didn’t allow a run, to keep the Cornhuskers from seeing any more of Pickens.

The Lady Vols had to win Saturday, or the season was over. Pickens pitched a masterpiece – she broke her own speed record of 78.2 mph with a pitch clocked at 79.4 mph – and the Lady Vols won 3-2. Freshman Ella Dodge lined a two-run homer over the right field wall in the first inning and became the first left-handed batter to ever hit a homer against Bahl.

The freshman got the opportunity because Weekly was willing to do what some coaches won’t with players who are creatures of habit. She shook up the lineup to move up hitters who had some success against Bahl on Friday even though Tennessee lost.

Dodge did it again Sunday afternoon, this time to center field.

“She came inside first pitch, and I was thinking that she’d go there again,” Dodge said.

Dodge sent that pitch to the spectators’ railing that became the only score of the game.

The video clip below is a recap of all the best plays on Sunday.

Tennessee’s defense had been shaky at times this season, but defenders made plays all over the field Sunday from Dodge at second to Alannah Leach in left to Kinsey Fiedler in center to Taylor Pannell at third who had to dodge a broken bat – a rarity in softball – to field the ball and throw the runner out at first.

“We certainly don’t want to overlook the defense,” Weekly said. “The defense was phenomenal.”

After Tennessee clinched a spot in the 2023 Women’s College World Series – Pickens was a freshman and Dodge was at Lakewood Ranch High School in Bradenton, Florida – the team dumped a full bucket of Powerade on Weekly.

The tradition continued in 2025, but the players didn’t quite lift the bucket high enough, and Weekly got hit in the head.

Coach Karen Weekly gets covered in blue Powerade. (Tennessee Athletics)

“I didn’t feel that, so it’s fine,” Weekly said after the game. “I’m really, really wet, and I didn’t bring a change of clothes.”

Tennessee will retake the field in Oklahoma City on the opening day of the WCWS against defending national champion Oklahoma in what is essentially a home game for the Sooners. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 29, with the broadcast on ESPN.

It’s a tough challenge for Tennessee, but this team has stayed connected – Weekly had noted that some folks may have given up on the Lady Vols after the tough end to the regular season – with a collection of low-maintenance superstars and youngsters playing above their experience level.

Consider Dodge’s reply to a question about her game-deciding home run.

“I think it’s just cool to know we get to play on another day with this team,” Dodge said. “Going to the World Series means we get more time to play with each other. It’s true joy competing together. We get more time to compete for something that we’ve always dreamt of. I think that’s the coolest part.”

Maria M. Cornelius, a senior writer/editor at MoxCar Marketing + Communications since 2013, started her journalism career at the Knoxville News Sentinel and began writing about the Lady Vols in 1998. In 2016, she published her first book, “The Final Season: The Perseverance of Pat Summitt,” through The University of Tennessee Press.