Tennessee softball is no longer undefeated. After getting out to a 26-0 (4-0 SEC) start, the top-ranked Lady Vols fell 1-0 to Mississippi State in Starkville on Saturday. The deciding blow was a walk-off homer off the bat of MSU’s Taylor Troutman.
The start to the season for Tennessee goes down as the best in program history, though. No other Lady Vols team has ever started a year with 26-straight wins. It also ties the longest win streak in program history, a mark that was initially set in the 2007 season.
Tennessee could still go on to set a new program record for consecutive home wins, though. That mark is at 28, spanning from the 2006-07 seasons. The Lady Vols have a long way to go and are currently at 11 after winning two-straight games in the Super Regional stage vs. Nebraska last season and starting 9-0 in Sherri Parker Lee Stadium this year.
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Tennessee will now turn its attention to game three on Sunday. The Lady Vols will need to wake up the bats to get back in the win column, though. UT and Mississippi State were both scoreless until the ninth inning in game one when Makenzie Butt hammered a three-run shot. The Bulldogs responded with one run in the bottom of the frame, but were limited to that.
On Saturday, in the loss, Tennessee was shut out. The Lady Vols had no answer for Peja Goold in the circle as she threw a complete game shutout with only two allowed hits, no walks, two hit batters and 10 strikeouts. The pair of hits were singles from Sophia Knight and Ella Dodge.
For Tennessee, Maddi Rutan started and threw 4.2 innings of hitless softball. She only allowed three baserunners and no runs in her time on the mound. Erin Nuwer came in to replace her, going 1.1 innings while allowing three hits and the walk-off home run to end the game.
First pitch on Sunday for the rubber match is set for 1 p.m. ET and will air on SECN+.
