As players return to campus and fall softball nears, teams will begin working toward 2027. For Karen Weekly’s Lady Vols, a big focus will be on improving offensively. Tennessee comes off a year where it had the best pitching staff in the country, but the other side didn’t match the output.
The Lady Vols finished the 2026 season with a team batting average of .281. That was down 21 points from the prior season and good for 187th in Division I softball.
With the addition of associate head coach Ehren Earleywine, there is a lot to be excited about. Everywhere Earleywine’s been, the offense has improved almost overnight.
“You watch Ehren once he got into coaching college softball, his first head job at Georgia Tech in the early 2000s, the program, just a massive turnaround super fast,” Weekly said in a June interview. “Does the same thing at Mizzou.
“They go to three World Series. Just one of the best programs in college softball from ’09 to ’17 when he was there. And then when he came back into the game two years ago at Ole Miss, their offense just took a huge jump, and here they are in their first World Series.”
The pattern held at every stop. The offense climbed, and it climbed fast.
“And then Mike White, it was no surprise to me that Mike hired him at Texas because Mike and Ehren played on that men’s fastpitch team together,” Weekly said. “And then when Ehren goes into Texas, you could say Texas already had it rolling pretty good, had a lot of returners. But I think there’s a lot to be said for a coach who their ego isn’t so big that they go in there and overhaul everybody.”
The programs he touched all improved. That may have a lot to do with his approach and ability to coach effectively.
“Ehren’s going to meet that person where they are,” Weekly said. “It’s definitely a one-on-one process. First thing he’s gonna ask a hitter is, ‘Tell me about your swing. Tell me how you hit. Tell me what your cues are. Let’s talk about it. Tell me when you were really going good.
“‘Okay, is there something that’s happened that’s taking you away from there? How do we get you back to that?’ So it’s a very collaborative process, and he’s just really, really, really good, not just at hitting, but at every phase of the game.”
Now, another test for Earleywine is pulling the best out of this Tennessee team. The Lady Vols have a strong bunch. They lost minimal production offensively and picked up their lone transfer of the summer in Karley Shelton from South Carolina. Shelton brings a strong résumé and will give this lineup an extra boost.
She started 155 of 171 games, with a career slash line of .314/.388/.472 with 12 home runs, 95 RBIs, 39 doubles and 105 runs scored on 157 hits. Shelton would have been the second-best hitter in Tennessee’s lineup last season behind Sophia Knight. She hit .345 with a .946 OPS, 7 home runs and 40 RBIs. She led South Carolina with 16 doubles and 68 hits and scored 33 runs.
The talent is there. I like the tools in Knoxville, and 2027 should be an eye-opening improvement. With Knight returning and the likes of Gabby and Alannah Leach, Emma Clarke, Elsa Morrison, Makenzie Butt, and the list goes on, the Lady Vols should be in a position to be much more effective on that side of the ball.
Fall ball fires up on Sept. 25. The full picture won’t show up until spring, but my vision is that 2027 is the year the offense matches what’s in the circle.
