Tennessee is No. 2 in Softball America poll for highest preseason ranking since 2014
Tennessee softball is going into the 2024 season with its highest preseason ranking in a decade after its run to the 2023 Women's College World Series.
The Lady Vols were tabbed No. 2 in Softball America's 2024 preseason poll released Thursday. It's their highest preseason ranking since the NFCA voted Tennessee No. 1 going into the 2014 season.
Tennessee returns seven of its nine starters to a lineup that boasted an SEC-leading 6.87 runs per game. It returns 17 players from the team that swept the SEC championships for the first time and led the program back to the WCWS for the first time since 2015. The Lady Vols recorded their first 50-win season en route to the WCWS semifinals in June.
Consensus first-team All-American Kiki Milloy returns to lead Tennessee for her final season. She led the country with 25 home runs and 86 runs scored, both of which are program records. NFCA second-team All-American McKenna Gibson also returns after her breakout sophomore season.
The Lady Vols' pitching staff will be without NFCA Pitcher of the Year Ashley Rogers for the first time since 2018, but UT returns graduate Payton Gottshall and sophomore Karlyn Pickens. Gottshall and Pickens helped lead the staff to a 1.75 ERA, which led the SEC.
Tennessee added key transfers out of the portal in former Oklahoma catcher Sophia Nugent and former MTSU infielder Laura Mealer. Nugent spent two seasons catching talented pitchers like Jordy Bahl, Hope Trautwein and Nicole May and won two national titles with the Sooners.
During the 2023 season, Nugent hit .274, scored 19 runs, hit five doubles and seven home runs and recorded 23 RBIs.
DONIHOO RETIRES: Tennessee softball shortstop Mackenzie Donihoo medically retires before final season
Mealer made a splash in the 2023 NCAA Regional at Alabama, hitting .412 with five runs, six RBIs and two home runs. She started 115 games the last two seasons with the Blue Raiders and recorded a .371 average, 85 RBIs and 22 home runs. Mealer dominated in C-USA, leading the league in runs scored (68), hits (78), RBIs (57) and doubles (20) last season.
Tennessee also brings in three freshmen who are ranked in the top 15 of the 2023 class by Extra Inning Softball, including top-rated shortstop Bella Faw. Twin outfielders Alannah and Gabby Leach, the younger sisters of former Lady Vol Aubrey Leach, are ranked No. 12 in the class and Faw is ranked No. 5.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee Lady Vols softball earns highest preseason ranking in decade
