Tennessee Softball Freshman Ella Dodge Emerging as Breakout Star in Road to WCWS
If you have been watching the Tennessee Lady Vols throughout Regional and Super Regional play, then you have become familiar with the name Ella Dodge.
Dodge, a redshirt freshman utility player from Bradenton, Fla., quite literally put the Lady Vols' offense and defense on her back during Super Regional play and propelled the team to their ninth Women's College World Series appearance.
Ella Dodge with the diving backhand 🔥🙌 pic.twitter.com/CoRFpRcbsf
— Baseball King (@BasebaIlKing) May 25, 2025
Dodge went 1-for-3 on Saturday and Sunday with two home runs. In Saturday's matchup, Dodge blasted a two-run home run off Nebraska's Jordy Bahl to right-center field in the first inning. Dodge's home run provided most of the offense Saturday and the spark that the Lady Vols needed to force the if necessary game three on Sunday.
ELLA 💪💸 pic.twitter.com/afoqTMwpze
— Tennessee Softball (@Vol_Softball) May 24, 2025
On Sunday, in the winner-takes-all third game, fans got déjà vu as Dodge blasted a game-leading home run in the first inning. The home run was at first ruled a double, but after review, the call was overturned. The umpires and committee in Pittsburgh ruled that the ball hit the bleachers and bounced back into play.
ELLA DODGE (has indeed) LEFT YARD.
— Tennessee Softball (@Vol_Softball) May 25, 2025
her second HR in as many games gives us an early lead
📺 ESPN
📲 https://t.co/neC92grk5B pic.twitter.com/Q60wEGNfDT
Dodge provided all the offense the Lady Vols would need Sunday as pitcher Karlyn Pickens during the back-to-back elimination games racked up 21 strikeouts with only two walks, and earned both wins.
After game three Dodge was interviewed in the post-game press conference about hitting two home runs on the weekend and stated, "I think just knowing that one swing can change a game just expecting every pitch is your pitch...So just going up there expecting to drive every single ball and trusting yourself that you'll lay off of the ones that you don't need to swing at."
Dodge is only the second hitter in the country to hit more than one home run off a National Player of the Year finalist, in Bahl. As the Lady Vols begin their campaign this week for their first Women's College World Series title, fans have been adamant that Dodge should continue to be a mainstay in the lineup.
DO NOT TAKE ELLA DODGE OUT OF THIS LINE UP!!!
— Tobias Lehigh Nagy 🥎 KP23 ⛽️ (@DrBasedJase) May 27, 2025
Tennessee opens up play in Oklahoma City on Thursday, May 29, at 2:30 pm EST against the four-time defending national champions, the Oklahoma Sooners.
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Allison Smith is an expert in leadership and organizational behavior in collegiate and professional women’s sports. Smith is a professor (Georgia State University), researcher, and writer. Smith holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Kinesiology and Sport Studies. Smith’s research centers on combatting the underrepresentation of women leaders in sport, lack of organizational structure for work life integration for sport employees, and lack of programming and oversight for preparing athletes to transition to life after sport. Since graduating with a bachelor’s in journalism in 2011, Smith has sought opportunities to write about sports as a contributing writer focused on the growth of women’s collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports in this new age and movement for multiple outlets including Athletic Director U, and now Forbes.com. As a former Division I and II pitcher and Division III pitching coach Smith will bring unique insight and expertise to Softball on SI.
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