Sitting in an 0-2 count in the bottom of the seventh inning, Gabby Leach knew she needed to relax.
The junior called timeout and met with head coach Karen Weekly. Weekly’s goal was simple – calm her down. Leach took three straight balls, fouling the next pitch away before her breakthrough. The culminating delivery came down the middle, and she crushed it over the right field wall for a three-run game-ending home run.
No. 1 Tennessee swept LSU in its first SEC weekend series, taking the final game 8-5 at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on a rainy Sunday afternoon. The Lady Vols (23-0, 3-0 SEC) tied their best start in team history, matching their mark from the 2007 campaign. The No. 17 Tigers (17-7, 0-3) jumped out to a significant lead in the final two games of the set, but could not close out the relentless Lady Vols.
Erin Nuwer started the game in the circle for Tennessee, but it wouldn’t last long. She was pulled after the first inning, forcing two groundouts and a flyout to start. The Lady Vols would fare slightly better in their half of the frame, reaching first base via walk, but would also be held hitless.
Weekly elected to give freshman Peyton Hardenburger the second stanza in the circle. The righty allowed a single, but the Tigers struggled to put the ball in play. Tennessee’s bats remained quiet, getting two full-counts without taking a base.
LSU came to life in the third inning. Like Saturday’s game, the Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 lead.
Hardenburger allowed a home run to right field, then a double on the ensuing at-bat ended her outing. Junior Sage Mardjetko took the reins from there. She fared no better, giving up a big fly off the scoreboard to give LSU a three-run lead. The Tigers managed to bring a runner home from second on a single to cap their scoring.
“It was just good to get her (Hardenburger) out there,” Weekly said. “She got a couple outs right away, and I think that gave her some confidence and just the ability to settle in. It’s her first time throwing in an SEC game and it’s her first time out there in a while. She’s going to be a good one. She’s got a great mental game and she just needs experience.”
Now with a sizable deficit, the Lady Vols’ offense woke up. Leach and junior Bella Faw both reached, but they would be stuck there. Three straight outs ended the inning as the Lady Vols remained scoreless.
Two mistakes stopped an otherwise swift defensive inning from Tennessee. Faw couldn’t corral a ground ball and Mardjetko surrendered a walk, but the Lady Vols stranded both runners.
Tennessee got itself on the scoreboard in a big way during the fourth.
Sophomore Makenzie Butt hit a double, then Maddi Rutan walked, giving the Lady Vols two runners on with one out. Sophomore Emma Clarke plated both with a three-run shot, cutting the deficit to one.
“Right before that, we kind of came together as a team,” Clarke said. “We knew that it wasn’t going to take one swing to change the game. We had to string together some hits. I was just thinking, ‘keep it simple, do my job, get them over, try to get them in.’ I tried to simplify my swing, and it worked out big.”
Mardjetko served strikes in the fifth inning. She struck out the last two batters after a walk, giving Tennessee a great comeback opportunity. The Lady Vols made the best of the opportunity as Ella Dodge’s hit went over the right field fence to tie the game.
Tennessee took its first lead of the game four at-bats later. Rutan hit a sacrifice fly to left field, driving in pinch-runner Saviya Morgan for a 5-4 lead.
Though Tennessee had scored five unanswered, the Tigers’ offense wasn’t completely asleep. After Mardjetko picked up the first two outs of the sixth inning, three straight walks ended her outing. The Lady Vols elected to end the game the same way they started – with Nuwer in the circle.
“That was actually kind of the plan,” Weekly said. “We just kind of knew it was going to be that sort of day where we were going to need a lot of people to buy us outs and not overexpose one person. I was wondering, ‘boy, did I do the right thing taking her out of the first inning?’ She was pitching fine, but we wanted her to be in that role, and we wanted some other people to buy some outs, so we didn’t overexpose her.”
Nuwer walked her first batter, bringing home the tying run after four consecutive walks. A ground ball to the shortstop helped Tennessee escape the jam with one run allowed.
Tennessee couldn’t make anything happen offensively in the sixth. Despite Leach and Sophia Knight reaching base, a strikeout and flyout stranded both.
Nuwer took her spot in the circle once more in the seventh frame. The first two batters grounded out to her, and a flyout to right field would be her last action of the afternoon.
Makenzie Butt got the action started in the final frame. She walked, putting the winning run on base. Rutan moved her to second on a single with one out. Clarke reached on a fielder’s choice at third base.
Now with two outs, Leach stepped up to the plate. She took two strikes, but Weekly’s words after the timeout calmed her down. She blasted a walk-off home run, keeping the Lady Vols perfect.
“I felt so much joy,” Leach said. “We have so much fun on this team, so I’m just so happy that I could be the one to end the game right then and there. Just coming home, rounding third, just so much joy when I’m coming home.”
The Lady Vols hit the road for a midweek meeting with Austin Peay on March 10.
