Tennessee Softball's Karlyn Pickens Sets NCAA Record With Fastest Pitch in Softball History-Again
In the second game of the Knoxville Super Regional on Saturday, Tennessee softball ace Karlyn Pickens set the NCAA Record for fastest recorded pitch in history, throwing 79.4 mph. Again.
In Tennessee's Super Regional battle at home at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium against Nebraska, Pickens threw the extraordinary pitch against rival two-way player, Jordy Bahl.
Karlyn just hit 79.4 on the gun 🔥🔥🔥
— Tennessee Softball (@Vol_Softball) May 24, 2025
the new fastest pitch in NCAA Softball history, breaking her own record of 78.2 pic.twitter.com/WuVWJrccdr
Pickens, the 2025 SEC and Softball America's National Pitcher of the Year, broke her own record, as she previously threw the hardest pitch recorded on March 24, in a 3-2 win over Arkansas, as she delivered a 78.2 mph pitch.
Tennessee has a long lineage of flame throwing pitchers as Pickens' previously recorded speed of 77mph matched Monica Abbott, one of the greatest softball pitchers of all time at the collegiate, professional, and Olympic level.
For Abbott, she set her record of 77 mph in her professional career during a 2012 National Pro Fastpitch game. Needless to say, Pickens is making her mark in the Tennessee and collegiate softball record books alongside legend Abbott.
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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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