Despite leaving nine runners on base, Tennessee softball found a way.
The Lady Vols beat Northern Kentucky 3-1 in the opening round of the Knoxville Regional at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium Friday night, rallying for two runs in the sixth inning to secure the win. Erin Nuwer threw a complete game, striking out seven and picking up five assists in the circle.
“It’s a win, and in the postseason that’s all that matters,” head coach Karen Weekly said. “Survive and advance. We’re just super grateful to be playing this time of year, that we get to be together, that we get to be at home.”
Tennessee (43-10, 16-8 SEC) jumped on the board in the second when Emma Clarke crushed her 11th home run of the year to right field, giving the Lady Vols a 1-0 lead. The opportunity to add to their lead came right after, but they came up empty-handed.
Elsa Morrison singled, Bella Faw walked and Sophia Knight loaded the bases with a bunt, but Gabby Leach hit a weak fly out to right to strand all three and kept it a one-run game.
“We struggled to get leadoff runners on early and then we struggled to have good at-bats with runners in scoring position,” Weekly said. “I felt like we were being a little too hesitant in our swings. We knew what our plan was, but instead of being in a yes-yes mindset and then holding up, it felt like we were a little bit behind, and when we swung, we were getting a lot of weak contact.”
With the lackluster production at the plate, Nuwer was sharp in the circle. She set the Norse down in order in the first and used nine groundouts through four innings to limit traffic. The sophomore leaned heavily on her drop ball to keep Northern Kentucky off balance in the batter’s box all night.
“The drop ball was definitely working a lot,” Nuwer said. “I focused a lot on the rise ball this whole year, and kind of just switching it up, I thought was really helpful.”
The fifth inning produced the defensive highlight of the night. With Northern Kentucky eyeing a chance to even the score at one, Sophia Knight fielded a ball off one hop in left-center and wheeled it to second base. The toss clearly beat the runner, erasing the Norse’s first hit of the night immediately.
The sixth inning unraveled briefly. After a quick bottom of the fifth, an Emma Clarke error set the tone for the frame. The runner reached first after the fielding error, and two bunts later, she sat at third base. Tennessee had a chance to escape the inning without a score, but a Maddi Rutan fielding error allowed the runner to tie the game.
Nuwer struck the final batter out to limit damage, but the Lady Vols needed a response.
They got one immediately.
Morrison led off the bottom half with a solo shot to left field on her third at-bat of the game, reclaiming the lead. The freshman had been locked in all night, roping a ball in her first at-bat and hitting it hard again in her second.
“Watching Elsa navigate this whole year, she just gets better and better,” Weekly said. “The maturity, the composure has been there all year long. You just knew she was in a good spot when she was up to the plate, and we had a chance to do something good.”
Morrison said her mindset was simple heading into that game-changing at-bat.
“The mentality was just to have a good bounce back for my team,” Morrison said. “Just an attack mindset and being that leadoff runner … I was playing with my eyes, trusting the pitches, got into a 3-0 count and then got my pitch to drive on 3-1.”
After two outs, Knight followed with a single up the middle and stole second. Gabby Leach capitalized on the runner in scoring position, doubling to center field to extend the lead to 3-1.
“What I love is the bounce back,” Weekly said. “What do you do when you get in those adverse situations? Do you tighten up, do you crumble or do you just say, ‘all right, move on?’ I love the way we moved on tonight.”
Nuwer closed it out in the seventh with a groundout and two strikeouts, sending Tennessee to the regional semifinals.
“Anybody wants to play postseason softball,” Nuwer said. “Just getting that start tonight means the world. Just knowing that your coaches have a lot of faith in you is really important.”
Tennessee will return to Sherri Parker Lee Stadium Saturday for the regional semifinals against the winner of the Indiana-Virginia game on Friday night.
