Softball Preview: 2024 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After having three games rained out last weekend, the fifth-ranked Lady Vols travel west to Cathedral City, California, with eyes on playing all six scheduled games at the 2024 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.

Tennessee is slated to face Loyola Marymount and Cal State Fullerton on Friday at 3:30 and 6 p.m. ET. On Saturday, the schedule includes games versus Oregon State at 5:30 and UCF at 8 p.m. The Lady Vols close out the weekend with Hawai'i at 2:30 and No. 19 UCLA at 5 p.m.

BROADCAST INFO
All six games this week will be available to stream on FloSoftball. Fans can also listen live to Hunter King describe the action via a free audio stream on UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics Gameday App.

All streaming, live stats and radio links can be found by visiting the Tennessee softball schedule page at UTSports.com.

NOTABLE
SABERMETRICS CORNER
Weight Runs Created Plus

Senior Rylie West leads the Lady Vols and ranks fifth in the SEC in wRC+ at 303 (wRC+ takes the statistic Runs Created and adjusts that number to account for important external factors).

Sophomore Destiny Rodriguez currently has a 255 wRC+ - good for second on the squad and 10th in the league.

WOBA

Both players also rank top 10 in the SEC in Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA). West sits fifth at .731, while Rodrigez is 10th with a mark of .639. wOBA is a version of on-base percentage that accounts for how a player reached base -- instead of simply considering whether a player reached base. The value for each method of reaching base is determined by how much that event is worth in relation to projected runs scored (example: a double is worth more than a single).

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Graduate Kiki Milloy and junior Sophia Nugent have been double trouble for opponents this season as both players rank top 10 in the SEC in doubles with three apiece.

Tennessee is one of just two teams with multiple players inside the top 10 in doubles for the SEC.

BREAKING OUT

After seeing significant action as a freshman last season, sophomore Destiny Rodriguez is poised to improve in her second season on Rocky Top.

The Live Oak, Texas, native hit her first career home run on Feb. 9 at Baylor – a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning that propelled UT to a 3-2 win over the Bears.

She currently leads UT in batting average at .545 and ranks seventh in the SEC.

She also leads Tennessee and is seventh in the conference in on-base percentage at .643.

WEATHER TROUBLES

The 2024 season has gotten off to an inauspicious start for the Lady Vols with weather-related troubles at home and away.

Mother Nature brought Knoxville its largest snowfall since 1996 on Jan. 14 with 8-10 inches reported across the area. This caused Tennessee to reschedule and cancel several practices during the week.

Down in Waco, Texas, rain moved into the area and canceled game three of UT's series at Baylor on Feb. 10.

Last weekend in Clearwater, the Lady Vols lost three games due to rain falling throughout Clearwater and St. Petersburg.

GOTTSHALL AMONG THE BEST

Graduate Payton Gottshall is playing her fifth season of collegiate softball and has quietly put together an impressive resume.

The rankings below highlight Gottshall's numbers against other active career leaders.

Category           Stat      NCAA Rank      SEC Rank
Games start     98          4                          2
Victories            76          4                          3
Strikeouts          931       1                          1
CG                      69          4                          2
Ks per 7              9.78      4                          1
Inn. Pitched      666.3    5                          2

SCOUTING LMU

Head Coach (Record at LMU): Tairia Flowers (89-68)

2024 Record: 2-8

Series Record: Tennessee leads 3-2

Last Meeting: W, 7-2, on 2/25/11 in Cathedral City, California

SCOUTING CAL STATE FULLERTON

Head Coach (Record at CSF): Kelly Ford (378-224-1)

2024 Record: 7-3

Series Record: Cal State Fullerton leads 4-3

Last Meeting: L, 5-4, on 2/18/23 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

SCOUTING OREGON STATE

Head Coach (Record at OSU): Laura Berg (288-266-2)

2024 Record: 5-5

Series Record: Tennessee leads 8-7

Last Meeting: L, 3-1, on 5/22/22 in Knoxville

SCOUTING UCF

Head Coach (Record at UCF): Cindy Ball-Malone (185-80-2)

2024 Record: 6-2

Series Record: UCF leads 4-3

Last Meeting: W, 6-2, on 2/19/22 in Clearwater, Florida

SCOUTING HAWAI'I

Head Coach (Record at HAW): Bob Coolen (1,080-690-1)

2024 Record: 1-4

Series Record: Tennessee leads 8-2

Last Meeting: W, 10-5, on 3/15/18 in Honolulu, Hawai'i

SCOUTING UCLA

Head Coach (Record at UCLA): Kelley Inouye-Perez (775-197-1)

2024 Record: 3-4

Series Record: UCLA leads 8-4

Last Meeting: L, 2-1 (8), on 2/26/22 in Cathedral City, California

UP NEXT
Tennessee will open up at home after three weekends on the road as it hosts the Tennessee Classic March 1-3 at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Payton Gottshall

Kiki Milloy

Sophia Nugent

Destiny Rodriguez

Rylie West

University of Tennessee Athletics