Tennessee softball has claimed the critical game one of the Knoxville Super Regional. The Lady Vols defeated Georgia 3-1 on Thursday night to take a lead in the best two out of three set.
Now, UT is just one game away from punching its ticket back to the Women’s College World Series. Tennessee is looking for its 10th-ever appearance and second in a row.
Here’s what happened on Thursday night at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville.
Pair of Solo Shots Put Tennessee Up in the First
Tennessee didn’t wait long to jump on Georgia. After stranding a pair of Bulldog runners in the top of the first, the Lady Vols scored two runs in the bottom of the inning.
The first was completely unexpected. Leadoff hitter Sophia Knight has been one of the most consistent offensive pieces all season for Tennessee. However, primarily a slapper, she hadn’t left the yard once this year. That changed in her opening at-bat as she scorched a ball off the scoreboard in left-center to break the ice.
Two batters later, Emma Clarke joined in. After a strong regional featuring her power hitting, she hammered a line drive to dead center that escaped the park, as well. This put UT up 2-0 after just one inning of work.
With the biggest question going into the supers revolving around Tennessee’s offense, producing right away calmed some anxiety and put the Lady Vols in a terrific spot.
Georgia Gets One Back in the Second
It looked like Karlyn Pickens would continue to cruise in the second inning. To open the frame, she recorded a pair of outs via ground balls to retire two.
However, the third batter she faced, Emily Digby, made her pay for a mistake. The Bulldogs’ shortstop squared up a pitch over the middle of the plate and homered to center. With nobody on, it just scored one, but it cut the margin for error in half going forward, bringing the score to 2-1.
Pickens allowed a single and walk right afterward to make things even sketchier, as well. However, she settled down and struck out Jaydyn Goodwin to get out of the jam.
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Lady Vols Get Another Insurance Run Via Long Ball
After a pair of solo shots in the first inning, Tennessee’s offense cooled back down. It got its base runners from time to time and hard-hit balls in the gap, but the Lady Vols couldn’t bring anyone home, even in the fourth inning, which saw two on with no outs, but resulted in runs crossing.
Finally, Tennessee broke through in the fifth for an insurance run, though. This came in the form of another solo shot. Alannah Leach hammered a no-doubter to right-center to put UT up 3-1 on the Bulldogs.
This shot came on UGA pitcher Presley Harrison, who came on in relief. She finished 2.2 innings pitched with one earned run, two hits, no walks and one strikeout. Harrison replaced the starter, Addisen Fisher, who notched a line of 3.1 innings, two earned runs, five hits, two walks and five strikeouts.
Karlyn Pickens Shines in the Face of Pressure
Karlyn Pickens, who had only allowed the solo shot to Emily Digby in the second, remained in the game heading into the sixth. Again, she looked untouchable through two batters. She forced a groundout and struck out a batter swinging to get two down.
Then, trouble hit again. Pickens walked Gabi Novickas and gave up an infield single to Bailey Lindemuth to put the tying run at first and the leading run at the plate.
Coming up to bat was Digby, the Bulldog responsible for the team’s only run of the day on the prior solo shot. This time, Pickens won the battle, though. She struck out Digby looking to get out of the jam and preserve the lead.
In the seventh, UGA got a runner on second via a controversially called fair ball double off the bat of Kierstin Roose. Then, Pickens hit Sarah Gordon to load the bases. However, she struck out the following two batters swinging to again get out of the jam.
That was the story all night for Pickens. She was mostly elite, and whenever she got herself into trouble, she worked out of it. Her final line was a full seven innings pitched, one earned run, seven hits, three walks, one hit batter and 10 strikeouts. For Georgia, it stranded 10 runners and hit 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Final Stats
Up Next
Next, Tennessee and Georgia will meet at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2 with a trip to the Women’s College World Series on the line. If the Lady Vols win, they punch their ticket to Oklahoma City. However, if the Bulldogs win, it’ll force a winner-take-all game three.
That final game would be played on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET on ESPN.
