Renfroes dress for success

UT freshman Ellen Renfroe discusses NCAA tourney

There was a time when Tennessee's Renfroe sisters made sure they never wore the same color on the same day.

Now, it's unavoidable.

UT's Ivy and Ellen Renfroe have united in orange to give the No. 5-ranked Lady Vols (47-10) a pitching punch like few other teams in the nation.

"Ivy is a power pitcher with a nice change-up, while Ellen is a finesse pitcher with an assortment of pitches,'' said Ralph Weekly, who along with his wife, Karen, serves as co-head coach of the Lady Vols.

"But I think the key is their priorities are very strong,'' he said. "It's faith and family, and then it's softball.''

No doubt, the chemistry between the sisters has been integral during UT's late-season run to hosting the Knoxville Regional which starts at 4 today when Georgia Tech (44-10) plays Oklahoma Sate (37-17). The 14th-seeded Lady Vols play Liberty (30-28) at 6:30 p.m. at Lee Stadium.

The winner of the Knoxville Regional plays the winner of the regional in Austin, Texas, hosted by No. 3-seed Texas. The highest seeded team of the two regionals will host a best-of-three Super Regional next week with a trip to the Women's College World Series (June 2-8) in Oklahoma City, Okla., on the line.

"If you have dissension with one pitcher getting more innings than another, it can cause a lot of problems,'' Karen Weekly said. "Really, another person to be impressed with when it comes to the chemistry of our pitching staff is Cat Hosfield, because the other two are sisters.

"But they are like the three Musketeers, all for one, and one for all.''

It will take all hands on deck for the Lady Vols to advance. ESPN has pointed to the Knoxville Regional as the most difficult of the 16 in the nation this weekend.

Tennessee has a national RPI of 12, Georgia Tech's is 18, Oklahoma State's is 21, and Liberty comes in on the heels of winning the Big South Tournament.

Either sophomore Ivy Renfroe (17-4, 2.14 ERA) or freshman Ellen Renfroe (26-5, 1.28) could get the start today against Liberty, and if one falters the other will be waiting in relief.

"When you come on in relief of your sister, it's different, because you have that bond,'' said Ivy Renfroe, the hero of last season's WCWS run with a 31-6 record and 2.41 ERA in 2010. "I think our relationship is the same now as when we were in high school, although we're obviously more mature.''

The sisters teamed up at Trinity Christian Academy in Jackson, alternating starts and each winning three state championships before pledging to attend UT.

"There's not a sense of competition between me and Ivy,'' said Ellen Renfroe, the SEC's Freshman of the Year. "We help each other out, because we know each other's style. Ivy has really helped me in my transition into the college life and college athletics.''

The sisters still share a car and see each other at practice every day, but they no longer live together.

"I do think we need a little separation,'' Ellen Renfroe said with a laugh. "But yeah, when we were in high school and we would wear the same color, it was like, 'OK, somebody has to change.'

"Now, we're both always just wearing orange.''

Coverage: The Knoxville Regional will not be broadcast on television, but ESPN3 will be showing the games in the Knoxville market via the web.

Bat Busted: Georgia Tech, which hit 99 home runs this season, had one of its bats disqualified during the pre-tournament inspection on Thursday.

All-Region: Ellen Renfroe, Lauren Gibson, Raven Chavanne and Kat Dotson were among the 25 players selected on the 2011 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Southeast Region softball teams. Renfroe, Gibson and Chavanne were named first team and Dotson was a second-team pick.