Karlyn Pickens named Female Amateur Athlete of the Year

Karlyn Pickens named Female Amateur Athlete of the Year

Tennessee softball senior pitcher Karlyn Pickens was named as the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Female Amateur Athlete of the Year.

She was also named 2025 Softball America Pitcher of the Year and is a two-time SEC Pitcher of the Year, earning the honor from 2024-25.

Pickens also earned consensus First-Team All-America recognition in consecutive seasons from NFCA, D1Softball and Softball America.

Entering the 2026 postseason, the right-handed pitcher has appeared in 138 games, including 90 starts, compiling a 69-32 record and a 1.48 ERA. She has totaled 53 complete games, 26 shutouts, 11 saves and 787 strikeouts in 617.2 innings pitched. Pickens has held opponents to a .164 batting average during her career.

She has been named SEC Pitcher of the Week eight times and was named SEC Freshman of the Week three times in 2023. During the 2025 campaign, Pickens became the first player in NFCA history to be named National Pitcher of the Week three consecutive times.

During the postseason, she has guided Tennessee to the College World Series in 2023 and 2025, including the national semifinals in both seasons. Pickens has been part of three SEC championship teams, including regular-season titles from 2023-24 and a SEC Tournament championship in 2023.

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This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Tennessee pitcher named Female Amateur Athlete of the Year