Tennessee softball coach Karen Weekly firmly believes that games aren't won – they're lost.
Games lost can often be traced back to the team that flinched first. The team that made the errors, or gave up a free pass followed by an error.
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It's especially true in the NCAA Tournament, when there may not be high-scoring games and the margin for error becomes razor thin.
Tennessee is no stranger to the concept – the games it has lost this season have often come at the expense of free passes or errors. The teams that win in the postseason scrap together enough to "put up a crooked number" in an inning or two, maybe three if you're lucky, Weekly said May 13.
So, the Lady Vols have put an emphasis on defense going into the 21st consecutive NCAA regional hosted in Knoxville.
"Everybody wants to talk about hitting and pitching, but if you can play clean defense and you can get an out every time the ball is put in play, you got a great chance to win," Weekly said. "So when you look at teams that statistically look pretty even, to me, that's what it comes down to, is who's going to play clean softball."
No. 7 overall seed Tennessee (42-10) will face Northern Kentucky (26-23) to open regional play on May 15 (5:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
It's also hosting No. 26 overall seed Virginia (38-13) and Indiana (42-14) in the double-elimination regional at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. Virginia and Indiana will play in the second game of the day May 15 (8 p.m., ESPN2).
Defense will be key for the Lady Vols against Northern Kentucky, which Weekly called a scrappy team.
"They steal a lot of bases. They're just really pesky in their ability to get on base," Weekly said. "Not a big power team, but when you watch them on film, a lot of balls just fall in, and then when they get on bases, they can make some things happen."
NKU's pitching will also be a change of speed for Tennessee, which has been inconsistent offensively going into the tournament. None of the NKU pitchers throw with the velocity of the SEC pitchers the Lady Vols have been facing for the last two months, which isn't always an easy adjustment.
"We're going to have to do a really good job of getting on time with their pitching," Weekly said. "They've got a lefty who's got their most innings. We've done fairly well against the limited lefties we've seen, but you don't see a ton of lefties throughout the season. So there's going to be some different things about them that we're going to have to be really, really locked in on."
Knoxville regional schedule
Friday, May 15
- Gates open at 4:30 p.m.
- 5:30 p.m. – Northern Kentucky vs. Tennessee (SEC Network)
- 8 p.m. – Indiana vs. Virginia (ESPN2)
Saturday, May 16
- Gates open at 2 p.m.
- 3 p.m. – Game 3 (Game 1 and Game 2 winners)
- 5:30 p.m. – Game 4 (Game 1 and Game 2 losers)
- 8 p.m. – Game 5 (Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner)
Sunday, May 17
- Gates open at 1 p.m.
- 2 p.m. – Game 6 (Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner)
- 4:30 p.m. – Game 7 (if necessary)
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Tennessee softball is focused on defense going into NCAA regional