Softball America’s poll came out Monday and officially confirmed what everyone expected – Tennessee softball is No. 1 in the country.

Tennessee is 10-0 after two trips to Clearwater, Florida, for the NFCA Leadoff Classic and Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational to start the 2026 season. The first trip resulted in five wins, including two over ranked teams. The second trip brought five more wins with four over ranked teams, including No. 11 Nebraska – which knocked off the previous No. 1 Texas Tech – No. 6 UCLA and No. 7 Florida State.

Coach Karen Weekly said the plan was to use all three pitchers, Karlyn Pickens, Erin Nuwer and Sage Mardjetko, in various roles, including starting and relief, to prepare them for all scenarios that could unfold in the circle in 2026. The pitching staff has a combined ERA of 0.33 with six shutouts, 73 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .121 against some of the best teams in the country.

“We felt like we have a very deep staff and those three in particular all have ace type stuff,” Weekly said. “Erin, you didn’t see her a lot last year, but we always knew what Erin had. We need to give that staff a chance to develop. Karlyn has been in games like this, Sage and Erin, not as much.”

Nuwer, who won MVP of the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational and SEC Pitcher of the Week honors on Monday, and Pickens both have an ERA of 0.00. Pickens and Emma Clarke earned All-Tournament team recognition in the invitational, and Pickens earned SEC Pitcher of the Week honors last week.

Nuwer pitched a complete game against UCLA with an 11-0 win in five innings and allowed just one hit with four strikeouts. The sophomore hasn’t allowed a run in 20 innings pitched this season.

“My teammates put up 11 runs,” Nuwer said. “That’s insane, and playing behind that, knowing that you have that lead makes you so comfortable. I thought together as a team we played very well.”

Ella Dodge lit up the scoreboard in the first inning against Florida State with a three-run blast en route to a 9-1 win on the final day of the tournament.

“As a team, we talk about dominating,” Dodge said. “That’s our motto for this year. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We are pushing ourselves, pushing each other, every day to do better than the pitch before, the day before, game before, whatever it is. Go out there attacking and see what we can do.”

The six wins over teams ranked in the NFCA top 25 is the most in Lady Vols program history through 10 games.

The eye-popping offensive numbers include 76 runs for Tennessee to four for its opponents, 17 doubles, 13 home runs and 20 stolen bases.

Three other polls, NFCA, USA Softball and D1, will be posted today, Feb. 17. A week ago, the four numbers were 2, 3, 3, 3. Don’t be surprised to see full 1s this time.

It’s early in the season and not even March yet when SEC play starts. Tennessee will get back on the road for the Green and Gold Classic hosted by UAB in Birmingham, Alabama, on Feb. 20-22 with games against Missouri State, UAB, Mercer and Southern Illinois.

The television broadcasts mentioned several times over the weekend how vocal Tennessee’s dugout was and how engaged the players stayed with each other no matter the score.

“We’re very excited to play, and the dugout is so loud no matter what the situation that’s going on,” Nuwer said. “I think also taking our wins and being happy about them, but also being able to move on from them, and knowing that we still have room to grow is really important.”

BASKETBALL

The Lady Vols came tantalizingly close to upsetting No. 4 Texas, 65-63, and actually moved up a spot to No. 21 in the AP poll released Monday. Such is life in the rugged SEC when a loss allows a team to gain ground. Georgia upset Vandy, a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourney, and moved into the poll at No. 24.

The Lady Vols have a brutal week with the makeup game tonight, Feb. 17, against Ole Miss in Oxford. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. Eastern with the broadcast on ESPNU. Tennessee will host Texas A&M on Thursday, have a mandatory off day on Friday and then travel to Oklahoma to play Sunday.

“We’re going to have to get the basics in, get what we need in, the scout-specific things, and then get on the road,” said Caldwell, whose post-game presser can be watched HERE. “We need to be mad about (the loss to Texas). We don’t need to be sad, we don’t need to be pouty, we don’t need to listen to anything other than, ‘Hey, we’re mad, and this is what we need to fix. We need to take our anger out in our next game.’ ”

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 June 16, 2026.