No. 15 Tennessee travels west, looks to build off strong opening weekend

No. 15 Tennessee is headed west for a 10-day road trip after a 5-0 start at the Eagle Round Robin last weekend. The Vols will play in the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces, New Mexico, this weekend before heading to Cathedral City, California to play in the Mary Nutter Classic.

In the Eagle Round Robin, Tennessee dominated opponents with a pitching and hitting attack that led the Vols to outscore opponents 47-4. Led by senior outfielder Megan Geer, the orange and white hit .388 as a team for the weekend. Geer went 8-for-13 with nine runs and seven RBIs. Geer’s .615 batting average is tied for second in the SEC in the short life of the season.

In the circle, Tennessee’s pitchers only allowed one earned run all weekend long. Sophomore Matty Moss and freshman Caylan Arnold carried the pitching staff — Moss was 3-0 in the circle while Arnold won her first two career starts.

“I have so much faith in all our abilities,” Moss said of the pitching staff. “I think we bring a lot to the table.”

Tennessee co-head coach Karen Weekly said on Thursday that she’s seen Moss grow as much off the field as she has on the field.

“For somebody as young as Matty — just a sophomore — it’s been kind of neat to watch and listen to the advice that she’s given,” Weekly said. “… Listening to Matty talk to them about what to expect and what it feels like, and how to respond to tough situations — it was pretty neat to listen to that happen.”

Tennessee now turns its attention to the Troy Cox Classic.

Weekly said she liked the way the young pitchers performed over the course of opening weekend, but knows there’s still plenty to work on as the Vols face stiffer competition this upcoming weekend.

As for what she’s seen from the team makeup, Weekly says the Vols’ lineup is filled with experience from top to bottom. She added that the defense is the best they’ve fielded at Tennessee in quite some time.

“As young and inexperienced as we are in the circle, it’s going to be big for us to play good defense behind them and put up runs to take the pressure off,” Weekly said.

This weekend, Weekly wants to see the Vols do a better job of closing out games in the circle, as well as being more efficient. Offensively, she wants Tennessee to hit throughout the lineup.

“We don’t wanna get to where we’re relying on three to four hitters,” Weekly said. “We’re at a point where we’re still trying to figure out (our) best lineup and combination of hitters, and who’s gonna do what for you at which spots of the lineup and produce that dynamic offense that you’re looking for.”

On Saturday afternoon, the Vols take on DePaul (2-3) at 4 p.m. and Bradley (1-4) at 8 p.m. ET in a doubleheader. Tennessee will have a second doubleheader on Sunday against Northern Colorado (1-4) at 1 p.m ET and Oregon State (3-0) at 3 p.m. ET. They’ll wrap up the tournament on Monday night against New Mexico State (2-1) at 8 p.m. ET.

The only game that will have a live stream and radio broadcast during the tournament is Monday night’s game against New Mexico State.

Edited by Nathan Odom

Featured image courtesy of Tennessee Athletics.