The softball team will make its home debut at the Tennessee Invitational after starting the 2026 season with a 14-0 record.

The invitational starts this Friday, Feb. 27, at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium with matchups scheduled over three days against Appalachian State, Penn State and North Carolina Central.

“We’re just excited to be at home, and it’s always so much fun to get back there after what’s typical for us to spend these first three weekends on the road,” said coach Karen Weekly, whose post-game video can be watched HERE. “I know we’re going to get a lot of fans out to watch us play, and I can promise them we’re going to play hard. Our girls absolutely love being in front of our home crowd, so get on out there and make it the loudest stadium in the country.”

The Lady Vols compiled 14 wins by going 5-0 in two different tournaments in Clearwater, Florida, loaded with ranked teams and then sweeping the field at the Green and Gold Classic hosted by UAB in Birmingham.

Junior pitcher Sage Mardjetko earned two wins in Alabama and secured the first no-hitter of her career with a 9-0 victory over Southern Illinois at Mary Bowers Field to close the classic. Mardjetko pitched five innings in the run rule finale.

“She was brilliant,” Weekly said. “I am really proud of her because she faced 15 outs, 12 of them were strikeouts. There were a couple pitches she had a difficult time early on getting the feel for, and she didn’t let that deter her at all. She kept going at them with what she had and then worked her way back into the field for those pitches.

“Her stuff is so awesome that even without a pitch for an inning or two, she can do that to teams. Really happy for her with what she’s been through with the injury to see the smile on her face and the joy she has being out there.”

The injury was a nagging shoulder issue that first bothered Mardjetko at Lemont High School in Illinois. She pitched her college freshman season at South Carolina and transferred to Tennessee. After Mardjetko’s sophomore season on Rocky Top, the decision was made to have surgery.

“Anytime you go through an injury, you have a new perspective on life and especially the game you play,” said Mardjetko, whose post-game presser can be watched HERE. “I think being grateful for every opportunity I get to go out there and play this game has made me play a lot looser and have more fun, which then, makes you play better.”

Sage Mardjetko (Tennessee Athletics)

Tennessee, which is ranked No. 1 in the country, has scored runs and won games in a variety of ways from a flurry of homers to extra base hits to stringing together hits to baserunning. The Lady Vols beat Mercer, 17-0, in a run-rule five-inning win on the second day of the Green and Gold Classic with Sophia Knight and Ella Dodge both stealing home in the first inning.

“We’re not going to rely on any one way to win a game offensively,” Weekly said.

Knight earned SEC Player of the Week honors for her three games of work in Birmingham. The junior from Huntington Beach, California, went 11-for-13 (.846) with seven runs scored, one double, an RBI and two stolen bases.

The healthy return of Mardjetko (3-0) gives Tennessee considerable pitching depth with proven senior ace Karlyn Pickens (4-0) and sophomore Erin Nuwer (6-0) to start the 2026 season.

“It’s a great thing to come out here and compete with this team,” Mardjetko said. “I love all these girls so much. To come out here and get to play the game we love with so much joy and have so much fun, it means a lot.”

The plan with Mardjetko was to ease her into action the first two weekends in Florida and then start her last Friday, evaluate the results and put her back in the circle Sunday if all went well.

“The last piece was let’s just see how she responds to things, and I think we got our answer this weekend,” Weekly said.

BASKETBALL

The Lady Vols have two games left in the regular season and both are tough matchups starting with No. 6 LSU this Thursday, Feb. 26, at 6 p.m. Eastern (TV: ESPN) and then No. 5 Vanderbilt this Sunday, March 1, at 2 p.m. Eastern (TV: ESPN) for senior day in Knoxville.

Tennessee fell just out of the top 25 and landed at No. 28 but is still in position to earn at least one bye in the SEC tourney. Five SEC teams are in the top 10 in strength of schedule with the Lady Vols at No. 10.

While a record of 16-10 doesn’t sit well with Tennessee fans – and the noise is reverberating right now –  it should translate to an NCAA bid. The worst the Lady Vols could finish in the SEC is 8-8 and that should be a guaranteed seed in March Madness because of how tough the SEC is this season. Stealing a win in the regular season could also improve NCAA postseason seeding for Tennessee.

The skid has reached four games after the 100-93 loss at No. 11/9 Oklahoma last Sunday. Redshirt junior Talaysia Cooper continued her offensive prowess, senior Nya Robertson got back on track at the arc, and freshman Jaida Civil showed what the future looks like.

“I think as long as we can stick together and continue to get better each game, then the goal is to be there in the NCAA Tournament,” Caldwell said. “We’ve played one of the hardest schedules in the country, and then we’ve had some tough ones. We’ve had some close ones.

“We’ve had some where we’ve won and continue to learn and grow each game. And that kind of sounds corny, but that really is what we’re trying to do right now, is get our freshmen developed and make sure that we’re all ready and we’re all on the same page, playing together, playing for Tennessee, when it’s all said and done.”

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