Erin Nuwer is ready to take the next step on softball’s biggest stage
Tennessee goes into the Women’s College World Series as one of the dominant pitching staffs in the field. In five postseason games, the Lady Vols have posted a 1.60 ERA and 0.86 WHIP with 46 strikeouts to 11 walks.
Each pitcher in the rotation has had strong outings behind her. Both Karlyn Pickens and Sage Mardjetko were named D1Softball First Team All-Americans. But the one I’m looking to see rise even more in OKC is Erin Nuwer.
In Nuwer’s two postseason appearances, she allowed no runs on three hits, struck out eight to one walk, and put two on via hit by pitch in 8.1 innings of work. Nuwer was dominant in the NCAA Division I Softball Knoxville Regional against Northern Kentucky, where her drop ball was effective.
“The drop ball was definitely working a lot,” Nuwer said after that game. “Just throwing it hard. I focused a lot on the rise ball this whole year, and kind of just switching it up, I thought was really helpful.”
She tossed a complete game with one run on one hit, and struck out seven while issuing only one walk. In game two of the Super Regional against Georgia, she ran into uncharacteristic trouble in the second inning, putting two on via hit by pitch.
Nuwer has only hit nine batters in 92.0 innings pitched this season, and has been one of the most reliable arms in the Lady Vols’ circle with a 15-1 record and 0.99 ERA. Those numbers were built on a season of statement performances.
She started the season with a no-hitter in a five-inning, 10-0 run-rule win over BYU. Then on Feb. 14, she kept what is now a dangerous UCLA team scoreless while allowing just one hit in a five-inning, 11-0 run-rule win.
If Tennessee is to make a run in OKC and get to the championship series, the Lady Vols are going to need the best from this staff in a high-pressure environment. Look for Nuwer to shake off the uncharacteristic start against Georgia and be ready when head coach Karen Weekly and pitching coach Megan Rhodes Smith call on her.
Nuwer has been huge this season with runners on base, with 87.5 percent left on, which is heavily influenced by her 64.7 ground-ball percentage. With heavy home run hitters in the WCWS, the Lady Vols’ ability to keep the ball down and induce weak contact could be the winning ingredient to their recipe for success.
“Our defense has been really good all year, so just trusting that they are going to put the ball in play,” Nuwer said on her confidence. “Having great defense behind us is going to be really important, letting them put it in play on the ground and then just getting those easy outs.”
In their opening game against the Longhorns, they will face a team that has hit 90 total homers on the season with four players in double digits. Those numbers are nowhere close to UCLA’s record-setting output, but still a great team that can strike big.
The Lady Vols’ strength in reducing damage will be key, and Nuwer is one of the best at doing so, along with Pickens and Mardjetko. The stage in OKC is bigger, the bats are louder, and the margins are thinner. That’s exactly the environment where Nuwer can take the next leap.
