Tennessee softball hit four home runs and struck out eight batters en route to an 11-6 victory over LSU.
The No. 1 Lady Vols (22-0, 2-0 SEC) struggled in the first frame against the No. 17 Tigers (17-6, 0-2 SEC), but grabbed the lead in the third and didn’t look back.
“They’re really tough. They’re selfless,” Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly said of her team’s response. “All 22 of them are just pulling for each other, and it’s a really fun team to be around.”
The Tigers pounced on the Lady Vols early. Tennessee pitcher Erin Nuwer struggled to find the strike zone in the first inning, giving up a single followed by consecutive walks to Sierra Daniel and Char Lorenz.
With the bases loaded and LSU’s Maci Bergeron up, Nuwer threw a wild pitch over her catcher’s outstretched glove for LSU’s first run. Then, on a full count, Bergeron got the best of Nuwer’s offering and cleared the bases with a 3-run homer to put the Tigers up 4-0.
The Lady Vols responded in the second frame as junior Gabby Leach took LSU pitcher Tatum Clopton deep on a 3-2 pitch to open the bottom of the inning. Then, in the third inning, Tennessee’s bats got hot. Sophia Knight opened with a single up the middle. Ella Dodge recorded a single for herself and nearly got caught in a rundown advancing to second. But Knight, who had advanced to third base, drew the throw and both runners were safe.
“I’m not saying we planned that out, but sometimes things just go your way,” Weekly said.
Catcher Elsa Morrison brought home her teammates with another single, advancing to second on the throw and making it 4-3. Then, the Lady Vol who got the scoring started tied it up for Tennessee. Following a Makenzie Butt walk and a sacrifice bunt by Taelyn Holley to move the runners over, Gabby Leach hit a dribbler in front of the plate that the Tigers couldn’t handle in time, and everyone was safe.
The scoring continued as Maddi Rutan hit a line-drive double to drive in Butt and Leach and give the Lady Vols the lead, 6-4. Bella Faw brought Rutan home with a single to cap off a six-run inning.
Rutan’s impact was felt on the other side of the ball as well, as she replaced Nuwer as the Lady Vols’ pitcher in the second inning. The junior struck out six Tigers in 3.2 innings, but Nuwer returned to the circle after Rutan gave up two solo homers in the fifth inning.
“She gave our offense a chance to get rolling, and it was absolutely huge,” Weekly said of Rutan. “And then what’s cool is when we put Erin back in, Maddi’s just as excited for what Erin’s doing as she was when she was in the circle.”
Nuwer regained her form and closed out the game without giving up another hit across 2.1 innings.
“She stayed in this fierce, competitive mindset,” Weekly said. “All the innings that she was in the dugout, she was ready to go.
The rest of the scoring came in the form of Tennessee home runs. Holley hit a solo shot in the fifth. Then, in the sixth inning, pinch-hitter Alannah Leach and Gabby Leach went back-to-back to make it 11-6. It’s the first time the twins have gone deep in the same game.
“It was super fun,” Alannah Leach said. “We’ve never done anything like that before, never really thought about it, but it was really fun.”
“I told Alannah right after that, I had a feeling, I literally had a ‘spidey-sense’,” Gabby Leach said.
The Lady Vols take the series win against LSU to open conference play and move to 22-0 on the season. They will go for the sweep on Sunday, March 8, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
