The softball team has returned home after an extended stay in Oklahoma City to reach the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series. While the players will scatter soon for a bit of a break, it won’t be too long before fall ball.

The Lady Vols already have secured three players from the transfer portal who will join a core group of returnees when workouts start in the fall in preparation for the 2026 season.

“We have a lot of young players who got a lot of great experience this year,” coach Karen Weekly said. “With the pieces we’re going to add either through our incoming freshman class, the portal or the kids that are developing within our own roster, it’s a pretty exciting time to be a Lady Vol softball player.

“Our entire pitching staff returns. Obviously, Karlyn was phenomenal and rose to the occasion. So, the future is bright here.”

Karlyn Pickens will be a senior for her final season at Tennessee. She is hosting “Kamp Karlyn” this summer and bringing a bunch of teammates on July 12 in Columbia, Tennessee, the site of the annual Midstate Classic during the regular season, which features a full day of high school, junior college and Division I softball with Tennessee anchoring the evening game. The fences at Ridley Sports Complex are lined with youngsters wearing the T-shirts of their favorite Tennessee player at that game.

The morning camp in July at the same complex has sold out already; the afternoon camp has some slots open for ages 6-15 – and it’s not just for pitchers as it will include instruction and drills at all positions. The Lady Vol Boost-Her Club is handling registration HERE for $250. Register by June 10 and get a swag bag that includes a softball signed by Pickens.

Other Lady Vols scheduled to attend camp are Ella Dodge, McKenna Gibson, Saviya Morgan, Laura Mealer, Katie Taylor, Erin Nuwer, Amayah Doyle, Emma Clark, Amanda Ahlin, Zoie Shuler, Aubrey Barnhart and Jackie Kirkpatrick. Former Lady Vol Rylie West, who played in the 2023 Women’s College World Series, also will be at the camp.

Pickens is a transcendent pitcher who also bleeds orange as the column HERE earlier this week noted. In the era of poaching players or making end-around runs to reach them – and there is no doubt Pickens was a target – she apparently never entertained any notion of leaving Tennessee.

Her mother, Rebecca Pickens, posted on social media: I’d bet my Rocky Top Dollar she’s in Tennessee

While the Lady Vols fell short of where they wanted the season to end – hoisting a national title trophy – the experience of going to Oklahoma City is invaluable. Every returnee, including the freshmen, now knows how hard it is to get there and how hard it is to win.

Two of the latest arrivals via the portal are Makenzie Butt and Sophia Knight, who both excelled at Boise State in the Mountain West Conference by way of California.

 

Butt, who is from Garden Grove, will be a sophomore in 2026 and earned 2025 Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors. The 5-11 first baseman started 55 games and hit .363 with 11 doubles, 22 home runs and 77 RBIs. She also earned All-Mountain West First Team honors and was named a Softball America and D1Softball Freshman All-American.

“Makenzie is a fierce competitor with the ability to hit for power and average at this level,” Weekly said. “She has always played in winning programs and understands the mindset and commitment necessary to compete for championships. Her energy and infectious personality are a great fit for our culture.”

Knight, who is from Huntington Beach and will be a junior in 2026, earned Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors in 2024 and Mountain West First Team slots in 2024 and 2025, along with Softball America Freshman All-America recognition in her first college season.

The 5-4 outfielder’s career batting average is .445, and she has played and started in 115 games with 114 runs scored, 188 hits, 16 doubles, seven triples, a home run and 43 RBIs. Knight’s career on-base percentage is .482 with 45 stolen bases over her first two seasons.

“Sophia is a fast and dynamic offensive threat,” Weekly said. “She will remind fans of the great speed players we’ve had over the years at Tennessee. More importantly, she is a really good person who shares our culture’s mission and values. I’m excited to welcome her to the Lady Vol softball family.”

A third player added from the portal is Maddi Rutan, who played two seasons at Eastern Kentucky and will be a junior at Tennessee. Rutan, who committed earlier in May, is a two-way player who can pitch and hit and was the 2024 Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year and earned NFCA All-Region honors in 2024 and 2025.

The native of Columbus, Indiana, has a career 43–15 record with a 2.50 ERA and 385 strikeouts over 356.2 innings and is a career .351 hitter with 21 home runs and 100 RBIs.

“We are excited to welcome Maddi to the Lady Vol Softball family,” Weekly said. “She is incredibly versatile and has had success on both sides of the ball at the college level. Maddi brings toughness and a competitive fire to the field every day. She is a great fit for our culture.”

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 and a 10th anniversary edition will be released in 2026.