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Video shows Karen Weekly telling Taylor Pannell 'good game' after Tennessee win

OKLAHOMA CITY – Tennessee softball coach Karen Weekly's explanation of the handshake line has been backed by a video a day after the Lady Vols beat Texas Tech in the Women's College World Series.

Former Tennessee softball third baseman Taylor Pannell claimed that Weekly told her that she made a mistake instead of telling her "good game" after the No. 7 seed Lady Vols walked it off in the ninth inning with a 2-1 win on May 30.

"We were walking through the line just saying 'good game,' and she said that I made a mistake instead of saying 'good game,' which is kind of crazy," Pannell said in the postgame news conference. "Like celebrate with your team. I just think it's funny she's still thinking about it. It's old news. Whatever."

ESPN showed a clip of the Tennessee-Texas Tech handshake line during the Texas vs. Nebraska broadcast on ABC on May 31. In the clip, Weekly is shown giving Pannell a high-five and saying, "good game," like Weekly said she did. Weekly didn't pause or even slow down when she got to Pannell or appear to say anything else, and ESPN reporter Holly Rowe said on the broadcast that she didn't hear Weekly say anything other than, "good game."

After Weekly passed Pannell, the clip showed Pannell reacting to something further down the handshake line. It's unclear what sparked the reaction, but whatever Pannell heard, it wasn't Weekly.

Tennessee went first in the postgame news conference on May 30, and when Weekly was asked what she said to Pannell, she said "Good game, like I say to every player. Good game."

When told that Pannell claimed Weekly said that she made a mistake, Weekly told Knox News that it was "an outright lie."

"If you rewatch at the tape of the handshake line, you’re going to see me go just as fast by her as anybody else," Weekly said in a phone call with Knox News. "I didn’t even know where she was in the handshake line . . . that’s an outright lie. I said 'good game' like I said to every other player."

"I went through the handshake line, nothing. It happened behind me," Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said in the postgame news conference. "So I don't know exactly what happened."

Pannell had a breakout season with the Lady Vols as redshirt sophomore before transferring to Texas Tech last June. She was named to the NFCA All-America second team after leading Tennessee in every offensive category except home runs. She hit .398 with 56 runs, 65 RBIs, 16 home runs, 13 doubles and 34 walks.

Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social‬. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: In video, Karen Weekly tells Taylor Pannell 'good game' after Tennessee beats Texas Tech

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