Ryan Hurd‘s new song features a very special guest vocalist – his wife, Maren Morris.
While they have worked on many projects together since they first met, “Chasing After You” is the first official duet the couple has performed.
Ryan shares, “Maren and I met writing songs and we’ve sung on each other’s records and written together, but this is the first time we’ve gotten to do an actual duet together.”
Ryan adds, “It feels like the timing is really perfect and it’s a full circle moment to get to make music together in this way.”
Watch the music video for “Chasing After You” from Ryan Hurd and Maren Morris right here…
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After nearly 330 days, Tennessee softball returns to action on Friday to open the 2021 season. The No. RV/23/24 Lady Vols head to Conway, S.C., for the Kickin’ Chicken Classic – a five-game slate hosted by Coastal Carolina.
In its 2021 lid-lifter, UT is pitted against Ohio at 9:30 a.m. ET, before finishing a double-header opening day against the host team at 2:30 p.m.
Saturday presents another doubleheader with the Bobcats again at 9:30 a.m., before the Lady Vols faceoff against the Zips of Akron for the first time in 25 years at 11:45 a.m.
The Orange and White conclude opening weekend with a first-ever meeting with UConn on Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
Broadcast Info
Due to pandemic-related health and safety standards no radio broadcast will be available for the weekend. The Lady Vols matchup with the Chants will be live streamed on ESPN+.
Quick Hits The Shipman is Sailing
Junior catcher Ally Shipman has garnered significant recognition during the preseason, collecting a pair of preseason All-America honors (D1Softball and Softball America – both second team) and also ranking 13th among juniors in the nation by Softball America. The outlet also pegged Shipman the No. 37 overall player in the country. Shipman was off to a momentous start in 2020, after coming off of a season-ending injury suffered midway through her 2019 campaign. The Valencia, Calif., native co-led the Lady Vols with a .403 batting average, seven doubles and a pair of triples alongside redshirt-senior Chelsea Seggern. Shipman also added 16 RBIs and a pair of home runs after starting all 23 games last season.
Rogers Return
After missing the shortened 2020 season due to a short-term injury, Ashley Rogers returns to the circle as the Lady Vols ace. The junior was scheduled to make her first appearance during UT’s SEC opener at Texas A&M last season, but moments before the team got on the plane on March 12 the season was postponed and then ultimately cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Rogers’ play in the circle during her freshman year (2019), which earned her first-team NFCA All-Region and All-SEC honors, made a lasting impression and the Athens, Tenn., native found herself among the members of this season’s Preseason All-SEC Team along with Chelsea Seggern. She recorded a 1.94 ERA in her first collegiate season, finishing with a 21-7 win-los record that included seven shutouts.
A Score of Success
The 2021 season marks the 20th season that co-head coaches Ralph Weekly and Karen Weekly have managed the Lady Vol ball club. The NFCA Hall of Famers (Ralph was inducted in 2011, Karen was inducted in 2018) boast an overall record of 1,408-466-2 at Tennessee. In their time on Rocky Top, the program transformed into a national powerhouse, with 18 consecutive seasons in the top 25 polls. Since 2001, the Weekly’s have guided players to 36 All-America selections, 64 NFCA All-Region nods, five SEC Player of the Year honors, three SEC Pitcher of the Year titles, 60 All-SEC selections and a deluge of distinguished recognitions. Some of the sports’ most respected names once sported the Orange and White, including Olympian Monica Abbott, considered one of the greatest pitchers of all time, India Chiles, Ivy Renfroe, Rainey Gaffin, Madison Shipman, Sarah Fekete, Raven Chavanne and Aubrey Leach, to name a few. The Weekly’s, who also were co-heads at Chattanooga, have led the Lady Vols to seven WCWS appearances and were SEC Co-Coaches of the Year in 2004 and 2007.
Rhodes Back in Rocky Top
Tennessee fans will see a familiar face around the dugout this season with the return of former Lady Vol pitcher Megan Rhodes Smith as an assistant. Rhodes-Smith will manage the bullpen. A standout pitcher for UT from 2005-08, she spent her previous year as the head coach at Belmont in her hometown of Nashville. Prior to her time with the Bruins, Smith spent six seasons focusing on the development of pitchers and catchers at Lipscomb University, and served as the program’s associate head coach from 2018-19. With the Lady Vols, Smith, now a mom of two young girls, leads a talented group with a diverse skillset including Ashley Rogers (1.94 ERA, 21-7 win-loss record in 2019), Callie Turner (2.67 ERA, 8-7 W/L in 2020), Samantha Bender (2.68 ERA, 5-1 W/L in 2020), Anna Hazlewood and newcomer Bailey McCachren.
Scouting Report Ohio 2020 record:11-15, 0-0 MAC Series record:Tennessee leads 5-0 Last outing: A 15th-ranked Tennessee downed Ohio 2-1 in Knoxville on March 2, 2017. Key player/stat: Last season the Bobcats recorded 204 hits and 38 doubles and eight triples, but only hit .287 collectively, but allowed opponents a .317 hitting average.
Coastal Carolina 2020 record: 13-8, 1-2 Sun Belt Series record: Tennessee leads 8-0 Last outing: The No. 8 Lady Vols outlasted the Chants 3-1 in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Feb. 8, 2019 Key player/stat: Coastal Carolina returns its top offensive threats in infielder Makiya Thomas who batted a .463 in 2020 and outfielder Stavi Augur who batted a .328 clip. Thomas led the team with 25 hits, while Augur added 20 hits and topped the team’s ledger with 21 RBI.
Akron 2020 record: 6-9, 0-0 MAC Series record: UT leads 1-0 Last outing: The Lady Vols edged the Zips 7-6 in the program’s inaugural season on March 3, 1996 in Knoxville. Key player/stat: The Zips were outhit 187-162 last season and gave up 151 RBIs compared to recording 90 RBIs as a team. Their top hitter Bailey Drapola appears to be returning for her sophomore campaign after leading the team with a .347 batting average and 26 hits.
UConn 2020 record: 16-5, 0-0 Big East Series record: This will be the first-ever meeting Key player/stat: The Huskies finished the 2020 season on a three-game win streak, that included two run-rules over notable programs James Madison (12-2, five innings) and Cal (8-0, five innings). Redshirt senior infielder Olivia Sappington posted a team-best .350 batting average through 60 at-bats and led UConn with five homers.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A season-high 30 points from freshman Jaden Springer and an efficient night from the field pushed the 16th-ranked Tennessee basketball team past Georgia, 89-81, on Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Springer’s 30 points were the most by a Tennessee freshman since Grant Williams poured in 30 against Georgia on Feb. 11, 2017, and it was the first time a Tennessee player has scored 30-plus points since Williams scored 43 at Vanderbilt on Jan. 23, 2019.
Georgia (12-7, 5-7 SEC) was led in scoring by K.D. Johnson, who closed the night with 22 points and three rebounds.
Tennessee sophomore Josiah-Jordan James dropped in a career-high 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting and also added six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a pair of steals.
Fellow sophomore Santiago Vescovi added 19 points and six rebounds of his own while converting on all eight of his attempts from the free-throw line—with multiple makes at the charity stripe in the game’s closing moments.
Reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Keon Johnson contributed 11 points. His performance was highlighted by a Sportscenter-worthy poster dunk to help spark the Vols in the second half.
Tennessee (14-4, 7-4 SEC) controlled the game’s opening 15 minutes, holding Georgia to a 36 percent shooting mark from the field. The Vols, meanwhile, shot 58 percent en route to an early 31-21 lead.
The remainder of the half saw a flurry of baskets for UT, which outscored Georgia 13-5 over the final five minutes to take a 44-26 lead into the locker room.
The Vols’ eight first-half 3-pointers were the most attempts they had converted from 3-point range in a single half all season. Tennessee made 10 3-pointers on the night to tie its season-high.
The Volunteers continued to dictate the pace in the second half, stretching their lead to as many as 23 in the first 10 minutes after halftime.
UT withstood Georgia’s late push, remaining steady at the foul line to walk away with the eight-point victory.
Jaden’s Night: Along with his 30 points Wednesday, Jaden Springer pulled down four rebounds, nabbed a season-high-tying three steals, recorded a pair of assists and finished the night with a team-best +15 plus/minus rating. Paired with his 23-point outing during Saturday’s win at Kentucky, the two-time SEC Freshman of the Week has 53 points over his last two games.
Up Next: The Vols hit the road this weekend for a Saturday matinee at LSU. Tipoff from Baton Rouge is slated for 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Valentine’s Day is this weekend! Do you have plans?
It’s a little tough to sneak in a romantic get away this year with the current COVID situation…so, maybe that takes some of the pressure off. But, when we get back to “normal” — this might be a cautionary tale for you.
Ashley McBryde doesn’t have any major plans for 2021, but she recalls a year when all her planning for an awesome Valentine’s Day vacation went unappreciated.
That sounds awful, right?
She found the spot to go to. She booked a room…and even asked for a very specific room to make the stay even more special!
Was her Valentine grateful for all the extra work?
Nope!
Oh, one thing we should mention…this romantic get away that Ashley booked…it was a stay at one of most haunted spots in Kentucky.
Ashley shares the tale, “The most romantic thing I’ve ever done for someone was I booked a stay at a bed and breakfast…but I didn’t inform the parties involved that it was one of the most haunted places in the state of Kentucky. So, I don’t know…to me that’s romantic. I don’t think anybody appreciated that, and we had to sleep in the woman’s ward, which is the only rooms still located in the jail. This was an old jail. It’s called the Jailer’s Inn, in Bardstown, Kentucky, and there are options to sleep in like…the library, the gardener’s room, the innkeeper’s room, and I was like ‘Is there a jail cell?(laugh) Is there like a solitary thing?’ ”
Ashley adds, “To ME it would’ve have been romantic. But it didn’t actually come off that way.”
Did you know that a urban legend in Kentucky inspired Ashley’s latest hit? She explains, “Actually, ‘Martha Divine’ is like an urban legend in Kentucky. There’s a swimming hole associated with the name, and I loved the name…and I didn’t want to write about her really, I wanted to use this other person I know of and make her a character in this song. Most cheating songs are written from the point of view of the person being cheated on, or the person cheating, and in this one I chose to take the stance of the daughter. “
Just remember kids, it’s not murder if you bury them alive — now that’s a haunting lyric!
Check out the music video for Ashley McBryde’s “Martha Divine” right here…which is pretty much another cautionary tale…
Chris Young can sing a love song like nobody’s business.
So you’d think he’d have real game when it comes to Valentine’s Day.
Well, while he does well, he doesn’t try to go over board yet because he knows that he’ll never beat his dad when it comes to Valentine’s Day moves.
Chris explains, “My favorite story about Valentine’s Day is everybody’s like, ‘So, what are you gonna do special?’ or, you know, kind of, ‘What do you have in your back pocket on Valentine’s Day?’ And I can never live up to my stepdad, because he asked my mom to marry him on Valentine’s Day, and then called us down from upstairs and asked me and my sister permission. So, pretty much anything I do, he made me look like a punk for the rest of my life (laughs) on Valentine’s Day.”
Dad for the win – good luck Chris!
Maybe one of his “Famous Friends” can help Chris Young come up with a great Valentine’s Day idea…until then, here’s his song with Kane Brown…feel free to sing this to your Valentine…they even give you words.
