OKLAHOMA CITY — Karlyn Pickens felt the impact of the heat in Tennessee softball’s second Women’s College World Series semifinal game against Texas.
No. 7 seed Tennessee (49-12) lost 4-0 to No. 2 seed Texas (51-12) at Devon Park on June 1, ending the Lady Vols’ season after losing 5-2 to Texas earlier in the day. The senior ace pitched the full game, allowing seven hits, three walks and six strikeouts in addition to the four runs.
Temperatures during the game reached the low to mid-90s with few clouds to block the sun. Pickens was seen drying off her throwing arm and hand after requesting a towel early in the game.
“Definitely was a little sweaty out there,” Pickens said. “Keeping the hand dry kind of was in the back of my mind. Yeah, we tried to fix that as best we could, just using rosin, all that stuff.”
Texas scored three of its runs in the third inning. Pickens (15-8) gave up two singles to start the inning followed by a ground out that moved both runners into scoring position.
Viviana Martinez singled to score the first run of the game. Another run came in on a double steal before Reese Atwood doubled for the third run.
Texas’ other run was scored in the fifth inning on a solo home run by Katie Stewart.
The performance was Pickens’ second against the Longhorns in this year’s WCWS and the final outing of her marvelous college career. She pitched in the opener against Texas on May 28, allowing three runs on four hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
“We had pretty good confidence,” Texas coach Mike White said. “I think she struggled a little bit with the sweat and the heat and everything else, getting a good grip on the ball. But we had confidence we could hit that fastball, and we were able to do that pretty well.”
Tia Reid covers Jackson State sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email her at treid@usatodayco.com and follow her on X @tiareid65.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How sweat affected Tennessee pitcher Karlyn Pickens in WCWS loss vs Texas