It's time for the Tennessee Vols softball team to reload after reaching the national semifinals this season. Sadly, the Volunteers lost to Texas with a trip to the title game on the line. Unfortunately for Karen Weekly, that's not the only rough news that has come in.
On Thursday, some pretty stunning news came in that All-American third baseman Taylor Pannell was entering the transfer portal - she did so with a do not contact tag. Not long after that update, Pannell announced that she was packing her bags and leaving Knoxville for Lubbock. That's right, the 3B has officially committed to play for Texas Tech:
🤯 pic.twitter.com/gbdTfroszx
— Taylor Pannell (@taylor__pannell) June 13, 2025
All-American 3B Taylor Pannell will transfer from Tennessee to Texas Tech
This is a huge bummer for the program. Just last week, Pannell said she was 'living the dream' with the Vols during their unforgettable postseason run. However, the Red Raiders, who finished as the national runner-ups, came calling and were able to change her mind.
Did NIL play a role in things? We're not going to assume anything here, but we'll go ahead and let you make that assumption if you choose to do so. This past season, Pannell was a rockstar for the Vols and she played a huge role in the program having so much success.
For her career thus far in the college ranks, Pannell has hit .351 with 25 homers and 102 RBI. She's stellar both with the bat in her hands and with her glove from the hot corner. The expectation was that Pannell would be back next season to help Tennessee record another strong year.
Instead, she'll indeed be making the move to Texas to play for Tech. Again, this is a big-time loss for the Vols and Weekly is going to have a tough time trying to replace her production both on offense and defense. We'll see who Weekly targets in the transfer portal moving forward.