Tennessee
Karen Weekly on errors, lost challenge in Tennessee softball’s Game 1 loss to Nebraska in super regional
The NCAA super regional in Knoxville started and ended with Jordy Bahl.
The Nebraska pitcher hit a single off Tennessee softball ace Karlyn Pickens on her first pitch of the game. Seven innings and a couple of costly Tennessee errors later, Bahl ended Nebraska’s 5-2 win on May 23 with a strikeout.
The No. 7 seed Lady Vols (43-15) are down one game in the best-of-three series at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. Going in, Tennessee was 8-0 in Game 1 of the super regionals at home. It has never advanced to the Women’s College World Series after dropping the first game of super regionals.
“Well, this is super regionals, and these are tough games,” Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said. “We did some uncharacteristic things . . . But that’s postseason, some weird things are going to happen. It’s a marathon, that’s what I told these guys in our postgame. We’ve lost games on Friday night in SEC play, and we’ve come back and won the series. We just need to rely on that experience and come out here tomorrow, flush tonight.”
The Lady Vols will face Nebraska (43-13) in Game 2 of the super regional on Saturday (5 p.m. ET, ESPN).
What Karen Weekly said about lost challenge in fourth inning
Tennessee could have gotten out of the fourth inning multiple times before Nebraska built a four-run lead.
The Lady Vols had two outs in the fourth when Pickens threw a wild pitch. Bella Bacon attempted to steal second base, but catcher Sophia Nugent had a perfect throw to Laura Mealer. The throw comfortably beat Bacon and led Mealer right into the tag, but the umpire called Bacon safe.
Weekly challenged the call, and replays appeared to show Bacon sliding into Mealer’s glove. But the call on the field was upheld, and the inning continued.
“I mean, I’m thinking it’s a good challenge, because the throw beat her,” Weekly said. “So you’re thinking, OK, how do we not have an out there? And I’ll have to see the replay. I mean, they went to review. We don’t have all the camera angles that we have during the regular season. That’s unfortunate. But if we miss the tag, we miss the tag.”
Tennessee doomed by errors in second postseason game
The Lady Vols started the postseason with a loss in the SEC tournament due to two costly errors, and they had two critical errors in the Game 1 loss to Nebraska.
Those happened during the at-bat immediately after the challenge. Bahl hit a fly ball to shallow left field, and Mealer camped out under it, waving everyone off. But outfielder Saviya Morgan came running in and didn’t hear anyone call her off. Mealer backed off at the last second and Morgan missed the catch.
“(It’s) just one of those things where, they both made a mistake,” Weekly said. “Saviya came in and was calling a ball that wasn’t hers, and Laura, at that point in time, just needed to hold her ground and make the catch and not defer to Saviya.”
The ball bounced off Morgan’s foot to Pickens, who threw it home to try to keep another run from scoring. But her throw was off, and Nebraska scored twice and took a 5-1 lead. Weekly pulled Pickens, who had seven strikeouts.
“If we get out of that inning before that pop-up, we had a chance to put a tag on a runner at second base, the inning’s over right there,” Weekly said. “I think if we can kind of keep that at 3-1, we close it to 3-2 — Karlyn’s going to get in there and battle for you. I have a ton of faith in Karlyn. A ton of faith in Karlyn.”
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on X @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
Tennessee
Tennessee Football Hosted SEC Cornerback Commit on Official Visit This Weekend | Rocky Top Insider
Tennessee football is continuing to make pushes for top targets on its board despite prospects’ commitment status. On Saturday, the Vols flipped Alabama commit Kenneth Simon II to join the 2027 class. On Sunday, Dayon Cooper decommitted from Florida State after his official visit to see the Vols.
UT has its eyes set on another currently committed target, as well. Mississippi State commit Brandon Allen Jr. just completed his official visit to Knoxville this past weekend, according to his Instagram story.
Allen ranks as a three-star recruit, according to 247 Composite. He is the No. 627 recruit in the nation, No. 65 cornerback and No. 76 player from the state of Georgia. He plays for Westlake High School in Atlanta. That’s the same school that current UT receiver Travis Smith Jr. played for.
More From RTI: Five-Star Recruiting Target Took Official Visit to Tennessee Football This Weeekend
Tennessee isn’t the only team trying to flip Allen, though. According to 247, along with the Vols and Mississippi State, Allen is also taking official visits to South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech. Ironically, UT will face all of those teams, except the Hokies and MSU, next season on its 2026 schedule, with each being played on the road.
Tennessee is a bit late to join the recruitment of Allen, but it could make a big enough impact to reel him in. UT offered him on May 7 of this year. This came from new cornerbacks coach, Derek Jones, who was hired to join the staff of newly hired Vols defensive coordinator Jim Knowles this offseason.
Tennessee currently holds 15 commitments in the 2027 class and sits outside the top 25 nationally in both 247 and Rivals rankings. However, with official visits continuing to be held, the Vols are putting themself in a position to bolster the group and climb the rankings.
Tennessee
Indiana man found after going missing in Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An Indiana man who traveled to Tennessee for the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival has been found after he was reported missing for over 48 hours.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department previously issued a statement asking for the public’s assistance in locating 28-year-old Trevor Lines.
Lines reportedly left a short-term rental on Douglas Avenue, where he was staying with friends early Thursday and never returned.
Lines’ friends told law enforcement that they left around 5 a.m. to search for someone’s phone, when they returned within an hour, Lines and his vehicle were gone. His phone and medication were left inside the residence.
His 2016 Lexus with a Purdue University plate was picked up by license plate readers east of Nashville in Mt. Juliet around 7:30 a.m. on Friday and later at 4:30 p.m. in Goodlettsville, which is north of Nashville. Although Nashville does not use LPRs.
Lines had reportedly been visiting Tennessee for the Bonnaroo festival in Coffee County. Nashville police have alerted the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Coffee County authorities to be on the lookout for Lines.
Lines’ older brother, Kyle Smith, told FOX59/CBS4’s sister station, WKRN, he’s worried. Lines is reportedly from the northern part of Indiana, so he’s unfamiliar with Middle Tennessee.
“We’re hoping that maybe he ended up in a local hospital somewhere… The doubts are definitely creeping in, and it feels more and more likely that something bad has happened,” Smith said.
However, shortly before 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, the MNPD announced Lines was discovered in his car outside the Goodlettsville Skate Center, adding that he’s being reunited with his family.
No additional details have been made available at this time regarding the circumstances surrounding Lines’ disappearance or his discovery.
Tennessee
Tennessee Football Lands Four-Star Offensive Line Commitment Q’Mari Hudson | Rocky Top Insider

Tennessee Football continued its big recruiting day on Saturday with a commitment from four-star offensive tackle Q’Mari “Big Q” Hudson. The class of 2027 prospect is Tennessee’s second commitment of the day after flipping legacy linebacker Kenneth Simon II away from Alabama in the morning.
Tennessee beat out Virginia and Virginia Tech, Hudson’s two in-state programs, for the commitment over the weekend. Hudson was in Knoxville for an official visit last weekend and all seemingly went well enough for him to bump his commitment date up from July and make his pledge to the Vols.
Following his trip to Knoxville, Hudson landed a prediction from Rivals insider Chad Simmons. The four-star prospect also made one of his visit pictures his profile picture on Instagram, leading to speculation that today’s announcement would favor the Vols.
Rivals‘ Rankings have Hudson tabbed as the No. 281 prospect in the class, the No. 22 offensive tackle in the cycle, and the No. 7 player from the state of Virginia. He currently plays for Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, VA.
More From RTI: Tennessee Football QB Commit Named a Top Performer at Elite 7-on-7 Tournament
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound prospect is a beast in the trenches. While he is being recruited as an offensive lineman at Tennessee, Hudson has played on both sides of the line at Western Branch. His highlight tape shows off the versatile athleticism and power to be a force on both sides of the ball at his current level.
Hudson is now Tennessee’s 15th commitment in the cycle after landing Simon earlier in the day. He’s Tennessee’s second offensive lineman in the class after landing four-star offensive tackle Princeton Uwaifo as an early building block for the class last November.
Tennessee began the day ranked No. 33 in Rivals’ team rankings. After two four-star commitments, though, the Vols have bounced up to No. 27 on the list.
The Vols’ class consists of four-star WR Kesean Bowman, four-star linebacker Kenneth Simon II, four-star offensive tackle Q’Mari Hudson, four-star OT Princeton Uwaifo, four-star TE Malik Howard, four-star DL Kadin Fife, three-star CB Dylan Haley, three-star S Jaden Butler, three-star LB J.P. Peace, three-star CB Slim Leavell, three-star QB Derrick Baker, three-star CB Carter Jamison, three-star LS Sam McKeown, JUCO defensive lineman Christian Mays, and kicker Ford Fehling.
Here’s a look at some of Big Q’s highlights in the trenches:
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