Tennessee Lady Vols
SEC (45-9, 22-6)
Tennessee managed to weave their way through a very difficult SEC and come out with an impressive 22-6 conference record. And this is a team that is getting hot at the right time. The Lady Vols ended the regular season on an amazing 18 game winning streak. Now that is a great way to enter the postseason.
Big Wins: 3/9 vs Florida (1-0), 3/21 vs Alabama (5-2), 5/2 vs Louisville (8-1)
Bad Losses: 2/24 vs. Winthrop (1-2), 3/17 at Arkansas (1-4), 4/4 vs Georgia (1-3)
Coach: Ralph & Karen Weekley (11 seasons at Tennessee)
Why They Can Surprise:
Tennessee relies heavily on the sister pitching duo of Ellen and Ivy Renfroe. Just about every pitch thrown from the circle will come from a Renfroe. Ellen, a first-team All-SEC performer according to College Sports Madness, finishes just about every game she starts. And when she doesn’t, Ivy will come in to finish the job. On the year Ellen has an ERA of just 1.22 and a record of 26-3. Ellen is also a great strike out pitcher and is among the nation’s leaders in strikeouts. Ivy has not put up quite as impressive numbers, but on most other teams she would be the top dog on the hill.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Unlike some teams in the SEC, the Tennessee lineup is not loaded top to bottom. Raven Chavanne and Kat Dotson are great contact hitters and Lauren Gibson, Melissa Davin and Madison Shipman are capable of driving in some runs and hitting a few long balls, but relying on the rest of the lineup for consistent help has not proven fruitful. This is an offense that can get bogged down on occasion. However, the Lady Vols usually do not need to score a lot of runs to win games. Chavanne gets on base about half the time she steps to the plate and Dotson can usually move her into scoring position. With the power of Gibson and Shipman, Tennessee will put some runs on the board. But in the NCAA Tournament it only takes one bad day at the plate to go home and this is a Tennessee squad that cannot afford to have one of its stars get cold.
Key Field Players:
Raven Chavanne, Junior, OF/3B, .439 BA, 9 RBI, 28 SB
Lauren Gibson, Junior, IF, .325 BA, 13 HR, 42 RBI, 15 SB
Kat Dotson, Junior, OF, .349 BA, 14 RBI
Melissa Davin, Sophomore, OF/IF, .321 BA, 7 HR, 26 RBI
Tory Lewis, Sophomore, OF, .311 BA, 4 RBI
Madison Shipman, Sophomore, SS, .316 BA, 9 HR, 58 RBI, 17 SB
Key Pitchers:
Ellen Renfroe, Sophomore, Pitcher, 1.22 ERA, 26-3 W/L, 21 CG, 207.0 IP, 265 SO
Ivy Renfroe, Junior, Pitcher, 1.99 ERA, 19-6 W/L, 13 CG, 158.1 IP, 154 SO
By the Numbers:
Batting Average: .304 (29th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Earned Run Average: 1.63 (12, 2)
Fielding Percentage: .983 (1, 1)
Scoring Offense: 5.28 (34, 3)
Home Runs per Game: 0.78 (66, 6)
Doubles per Game: 1.06 (150, 6)
Triples per Game: 0.20 (47, 2)
Stolen Bases per Game: 1.85 (11, 2)
Slugging Percentage: .448 (42, 4)
Double Plays per Game: 0.26 (154, 8)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
| 2011 | Regional | defeated Liberty, lost to Oklahoma State, defeated Georgia Tech, eliminated by Oklahoma State |
| 2010 | Regional | defeated Ball State, defeated Virginia, defeated Louisville |
| 2010 | Super Regional | defeated Michigan |
| 2010 | WCWS | defeated Arizona, defeated Georgia, lost to Arizona, eliminated by Arizona |
| 2009 | Regional | defeated James Madison, defeated Nebraska, lost to Jacksonville State, eliminated by Jacksonville State |
| 2008 | Regional | defeated Winthrop, lost to Virginia Tech, defeated Louisville, defeated Virginia Tech, eliminated by Virginia Tech |
| 2007 | Regional | defeated Furman, defeated North Carolina, defeated Winthrop |
| 2007 | Super Regional | defeated Hawaii |
| 2007 | WCWS | defeated Texas A&M, defeated Arizona, defeated Northwestern |
| 2007 | Championship | eliminated by Arizona |
*all team stats through 5/6
See All Softball Postseason Capsules
