Report: Karen Weekly says Taylor Pannell's postgame claim is an 'outright lie'

Texas Tech’s Taylor Pannell said after the 2-1 loss to Tennessee on Saturday at the Women’s College World Series that Lady Vols head coach Karen Weekly told her in the postgame handshake line that she “made a mistake.”

Pannell is in her first season at Texas Tech after transferring from Tennessee.

“We were walking through the line just saying ‘good game’,” Pannell said during Texas Tech’s postgame press conference, “and she said that I made a mistake instead of saying ‘good game’, which is kind of crazy. 

“Like celebrate with your team. I just think it’s funny she’s still thinking about it. It’s old news. Whatever.”

Weekly denied the claim in Tennessee’s postgame press conference and told the Knoxville News Sentinel’s Cora Hall that what Pannell said was “an outright lie.”

“Good game,” Weekly said at the podium, when asked directly what she told Pannell in the handshake line, “like I say to every player. Good game.”

Texas Tech coach: ‘I thought everything was normal’

Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said he was unsure what happened but noted everything seemed “normal.”

“I thought everything was normal,” he said. “I went through the handshake line, nothing. It happened behind me. So I don’t know exactly what happened.”

Emma Clarke hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in Tennessee’s 2-1 win, sending the Lady Vols to the national semifinals on Monday. 

Pannell scored to tie the game for Texas Tech in the top of the seventh, after Tech loaded the bases with no outs. She was initially called out, but it was overturned after replayed showed Pannell had beat the tag from Tennessee catcher Elsa Morrison.

Pannell, a redshirt junior from Milan, Illinois, started all of Tennessee’s 63 games last season. She led the Lady Vols in batting average at .398, on-base percentage at .493 and slugging percentage at .747. She’s tied for eighth in Tennessee program history with 16 home runs and is 10th in single-season RBIs with 65.

Texas Tech (58-8), the No. 11 national seed, now faces No. 2 Texas on Sunday in an elimination game scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC. 

“I think emotions were very high (against Tennessee),” Pannell said. “We just have to take and it and learn from it for the following game. Obviously we’re not done yet. 

“Coach is known for winning series and not losing back to back. We’re going to take that mentality with every out we have and play with it. Today we came back in the top of the seventh. With every out we have, we’re just going to fight.”

Tennessee 2-0 at College World Series for first time since 2013

The Lady Vols beat Texas 6-3 on Thursday to open their stay in Oklahoma City and are now one win away from playing in the three-game national championship series, which is scheduled to begin Wednesday night. 

It’s the first time Tennessee has won its first two games at the Women’s College World Series since 2013. The Lady Vols, who have never won a national championship, have finished runner-up twice and have been in the semifinals seven times previously. 

“Nothing is going to get easier from here on out,” Weekly said. “Two days ago was really tough. Today was really tough. It’s a national championship for a reason. If you want it, you’re going to have to find a way to be the toughest team when those moments come.”