Tennessee 3, Georgia 1: Lady Vols take opener in Knoxville Super Regional
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The NCAA Division I Softball Super Regionals began Thursday night with a Southeastern Conference matchup between the Tennessee Lady Vols and the Georgia Bulldogs inside Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
Tennessee took the win 3-1, behind a complete-game, 10-strikeout performance by Karlyn Pickens and solo home runs by Sophia Knight, Emma Clarke and Alannah Leach.
Pickens opened against a Georgia offense that came in hitting .354 with 79 home runs on the season. Keirstin Roose and Jaydyn Goodwin reached on back-to-back singles to begin the game. Pickens got out of the side, stranding both, including a strikeout of Tyler Ellison.
Addisen Fisher took the ball for Georgia and gave up a home run to Knight to give Tennessee the early 1-0 lead. That was Knight’s first homer of the season. Then, with one out, Clarke hit her 13th homer of the year with a solo shot to center on Fisher’s 11th pitch of the game.
Fisher had a tough time getting off the field and issued two walks before striking out Gabby Leach on her 36th pitch of the inning.
Pickens responded with two induced groundouts before Emily Digby hit a solo home run, her 11th of the year, to center to cut the deficit in half. Then after a Natalie Ray walk, Roose singled to put two on before Pickens left the runners stranded with a strikeout of Goodwin.
Fisher pitched a clean bottom of the second with no damage and recorded back-to-back strikeouts before Knight smacked a two-out double to center for her ninth of the season. Knight came into the game slashing .412/.462/.477 with a team-leading 63 hits.
Both pitchers worked quick third innings. Pickens retired the Bulldogs in order and recorded her third strikeout of the game. Fisher then recorded a strikeout to begin the bottom half and made it through the inning with only a single given up to Makenzie Butt.
Leach battled and reached on an error from Roose at second. Then Bella Faw laid a perfect bunt in between Fisher and Bailey Lindemuth at third to put two on with no outs. The Lady Vols executed the small-ball approach well in the fourth. After Taelyn Holley moved runners on a sac bunt to put runners on second and third, Fisher exited for Presley Harrison.
Harrison escaped without damage, including a strikeout of Knight on a 2-2 rise ball. That was a big moment, as it kept the Lady Vols at a one-run lead.
In the top of the fifth, Ella Dodge made a great play at third to get Roose on a ground out. Then Pickens went on for back-to-back strikeouts to retire the side in order.
Through five innings, Pickens had given up only the second-inning home run on four hits with five strikeouts.
Leach came with power on a one-out solo home run to extend Tennessee’s lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth. That was the Lady Vols’ third solo home run of the game. Harrison would get out of the inning without further damage.
Georgia applied two-out pressure in the sixth, Gabi Novickas reached on a walk, followed by a Lindemuth single, but Pickens shut the door with her seventh strikeout of the night by fanning Digby.
Meredith Barnhart snuck a pinch-hit one-out single past first base to give Tennessee a runner in the bottom of the sixth but was left stranded at first. The Lady Vols hit 1-for-8 with runners on in the game and left seven on.
Pickens closed it out in the top of the seventh, but not before Georgia loaded the bases with one out. It started with Roose’s one-out double, then Goodwin reached on a single, followed by Sarah Gordon reaching on a hit by pitch.
Then, Pickens locked in and threw back-to-back strikeouts to leave the bases loaded and seal the win.
Tennessee takes the 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Knoxville Super Regional. Game two is set for Friday at 3 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN2.
