After winning the first game of the series Friday night, the Lady Vols picked up the series clinching win over Georgia Saturday afternoon.
The game was originally supposed to be played at 2:30 p.m. ET, but rain moved it to a 5:30 p.m. ET start.
“We knew right from the start, we live here in Knoxville and we’ve seen many times if it’s supposed to be 100% chance of rain and there is a break there and we wanted to get one game in there today,” co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. “There’s nothing like a Sunday double header, it seems to drag on and on.”
The postponement didn’t shake the Lady Vols, however, as they came out of the dugout hitting the bell well and pitching well.
“They did everything we asked of them and played a good game,” Weekly said. “Karen and Megan handled the pitchers and hitters really well.”
Callie Turner was the pitcher for the majority of the game and got the win over Georgia’s Britton Rogers, 9-1. Samantha Bender relieved Turner in the seventh to close out the game.
The two teams traded runs through the first two and a half innings, but the Lady Vols blew things open in the bottom of the third, starting with a two-run homer from Ally Shipman.
“I’ve liked everything I’ve seen from Ally Shipman the last few games,” Weekly said. “She was out for a certain period and she’s come back on fire. Yesterday ball to the wall was the game winner, and today the ball she out was surely a game changer. She’s an impact player.”
Shipman’s strong 2-for-4 hitting performance today continued a streak of outstanding games for the catcher after returning from injury.
“I think for me it’s just locking in on little things and focusing on small things in my swing or small things in my plan that I can really dive in and focus on,” Shipman said. “That’s really worked for me.”
The Lady Vols followed Shipman’s homer with an RBI double from Madison Webber to drive in two more runs in the third.
Tennessee didn’t slow down in the fourth, coming out with a big Kiki Milloy triple to drive in a run. Ivy Davis was ready to put the game out of reach when she came up to bat with the bases loaded, and hit a grand slam to give the Lady Vols a 9-2 lead.
Turner and the rest of the defense only allowed one more run and picked up the series win. The Lady Vols will look to pick up a sweep Sunday afternoon.
“I think pitching is going to be huge for us tomorrow,” Rogers said. “They’ve already seen Rogers once, they’ve seen Callie [Turner], they’ve seen Sam [Bender] so they’ve seen a whole bunch of our pitchers.
“Just staying stronger in the circle, staying in attack mode at the plate and hacking at good pitches, making solid contact.”
The Lady Vols will take on Georgia in game three of the series Sunday at 2 p.m. ET at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. Sunday’s game will be broadcasted on ESPN2.
