The seventh-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers are scheduled to play a midweek softball game against No. 17 Duke on April 15. The matchup will take place in Durham, North Carolina, with the first pitch set for 7 p.m. Eastern Time and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
This game brings together two teams with strong recent performances. Tennessee enters the contest with a record of 37-6, having won six consecutive games and eight of its last ten. Duke holds a record of 31-12 and also comes into the game after winning eight out of its last ten matchups.
According to information released by Tennessee Athletics, this is only the second meeting between the two programs. The Lady Vols won their first encounter against Duke last season in Knoxville by a score of 1-0. Both teams have achieved notable success in recent years; Duke reached the Women’s College World Series in 2024, while Tennessee has made nine appearances in Oklahoma City, including trips in both 2023 and 2025.
The Lady Vols have focused on pitching depth since adopting a staff approach beginning with the 2023 season. Five different pitchers—Mardjetko, Nuwer, Pickens, Rutan, and Hardenburger—have started games this year. Together they have recorded a combined earned run average (ERA) of 1.11 over 278 innings pitched with a total of 337 strikeouts and have allowed just 57 runs across their first 43 games.
Looking ahead after Wednesday’s contest at Duke, Tennessee will have an off weekend before returning home to play Radford at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on April 21.
