How Tennessee softball transfers Laura Mealer, Sophia Nugent are already making an impact
Laura Mealer only had half a second to react to the ball driven hard into the ground.
The Middle Tennessee State transfer scooped the ball off the bounce right in front of her and threw the King batter out at first. It almost looked easy for Mealer, whose athleticism sets her apart in the infield.
"She just makes the plays," Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said. "Sometimes it may not look fundamentally picture perfect, but she just knows how to make plays. She knows how to read the ball. I think she likes to be in that moment, and you can see the way she approaches things defensively and offensively."
Tennessee softball is already showing signs of just how good it can be this spring – maybe even better than the 2023 team that swept the SEC titles and made a run to the Women's College World Series semifinals. And its transfers are a big reason why.
Mealer and former Oklahoma catcher Sophia Nugent committed to the Lady Vols this summer, and both will make immediate impacts on offense and defense. Tennessee's biggest losses after last season are former pitcher Ashley Rogers, who graduated, and infielder Lair Beautae, who transferred to Houston.
But the majority of last season's roster returned – and Weekly also brought in three highly touted freshmen.
Nugent fills a direct need for Tennessee, because Weekly didn't want to go into the 2024 season without multiple options at catcher. Nugent's arrival gives Weekly freedom to move around Giulia Koutsoyanopulos, who has played at first base, catcher and in the outfield this fall.
"G's a defensive wizard – wherever you put G defensively, she's going to crush it," Weekly said. "What's kind of cool now is that she doesn't have the pressure of catching all the time on her. So when she gets back behind the plate, she looks so much more comfortable."
Nugent spent the last two seasons catching for talented Oklahoma pitchers like Jordy Bahl, Hope Trautwein and Nicole May. She won two national titles with the Sooners and brings invaluable experience to Tennessee.
During the 2023 season, Nugent hit .274, scored 19 runs, hit five doubles and seven home runs and recorded 23 RBIs. In the field, she recorded 153 putouts with seven assists and zero errors.
"The pitchers are very comfortable with her, because she's very relaxed behind the plate," Weekly said. "Her demeanor is just really easygoing. She's been a great addition to our team, just has fit right in, it's like she's been here forever."
Nugent was familiar with the Weekly and her husband and former co-head coach, Ralph, from when they recruited her in high school. The second time recruiting her, the whole staff, including assistants Chris and Kate Malveaux sold her on Tennessee – and so did former Sooners Mackenzie Donihoo and Zaida Puni.
"I loved all of them," Nugent said. "Getting to talk to Chris and Kate, and then I talked to Lou and Zaida ... telling me how they felt – I talked to a lot of the transfers, which helped."
Mealer transferred looking for more of a challenge. She felt complacent at MTSU, where she started 115 games the last two seasons with 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.
"I've wanted to come here since I was really little," said Mealer, a native of Chapel Hill, Tennessee. "It's so cool. I had a Tennessee uniform when I was six years old, just because my family grew up here, and we've always been really big fans. So it's amazing to be here."
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: Sophia Nugent, Laura Mealer ready to make impact for Tennessee softball
