Following Friday night’s conference-opening win over Missouri, Tennessee co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly addressed some concerns to their team after the Lady Vols pitching staff struggled to put away the Tigers until late.
On Saturday, the team responded with a complete performance from the circle and the plate.
Behind solid pitching and two big innings from Tennessee’s batting order, the Lady Vols (23-1, 2-0) won their 15th-straight game with a 7-0 shutout of Missouri (16-9, 0-2).
“Offensively, I think we had more quality at bats, today,” co-head coach Karen Weekly said. “Yesterday we seemed to go in spurts. Today, I thought we did a better job of having them throughout the game.”
Freshman pitcher Gabby Sprang got her third start of the season from the circle, racking up four strikeouts while allowing just one hit in the win.
“The name of the game today was pitching,” said Weekly. “I don’t think they were expecting Gabby Sprang. We’re going to need Gabby in order to be successful down the stretch. We were really happy with the way she preformed today.”
Sprang, who saw her first action on the mound since last Friday’s game versus Charleston Southern, is looking to build off of Saturday’s successful three-inning performance.
“I want to keep the consistency going,” Sprang said. “I can only get better from here. Hopefully I can finish a game. It feels good just to get that under my belt, being a freshman.”
Junior pitcher Matty Moss, who gave up two hits in just one inning of play on Friday, came in for relief duty, and put together an impressive showing of her own.
“Matty (Moss) was a completely different pitcher than she was yesterday,” Weekly said. “She was really locating the ball well and mixed up her speeds.”
Moss completed the game with seven strikeouts, giving up no hits and also holding Missouri batters scoreless through four innings of play.
As for the offense, Tennessee put its first run on the board in the bottom half of the third, as senior shortstop Meghan Gregg used a hit by pitch to advance to first, bringing in senior centerfielder CJ McClain to make it a 1-0 advantage.
The Lady Vols added a pair of runs that same inning with a sophomore third baseman Chelsea Seggern RBI to score Jenna Holcomb, while sophomore second baseman Aubrey Leach would take home on an RBI single from catcher Abby Lockman to put Tennessee up, 3-0.
The Lady Vols used a big inning in the bottom of the fourth to blow the game open, getting their second homerun of the weekend with a solo shot from senior right fielder Scarlet McSwain.
Two more runs were in order that inning, with McClain scoring again thanks to an error from the Missouri second baseman.
Seggern added her second RBI of the game with a single up the middle to bring in Leach, making it a 6-0 lead for Tennessee.
The scoring was capped off with a sacrifice fly from McClain to bring in the game’s seventh run in the form of sophomore pinch hitter Tianna Batts.
While the Lady Vols were able to put together one of their best all-around games of the season, the coaching staff would like to see the team finish, as Tennessee was one run away from ending the game in the bottom of the fifth.
“Up until we didn’t finish the game in the fifth inning, we were pretty happy with it,” Weekly said. “We made a substitution to try and end that game in five innings and we had an error on the bases. Everybody has a job to do and if you don’t do your job that could come back to haunt you.”
“We let some at-bats get away from us at the end. We need to finish, especially if we have opportunity to close the door.”
Finishing is what Tennessee will look to do on Sunday, as it goes for the series sweep and a 3-0 start in conference play.
Opening pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
