The Lady Vols continued their weekend of run-ruling teams by crushing Purdue and Indiana State in the final day of the Tennessee Invitational and improve to 16-3 on the year.
The Lady Vols started off their day with a matchup against the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue couldn’t get their bats going throughout the game, and they fell to the Lady Vols 8-0 in five innings. This marked the third straight run-rule victory for the Lady Vols—the first time that has happened since February 6th-8th.
After both teams went three-up and three-down in the first inning, the Lady Vols earned their first hit of the game with a double by Annie Aldrete in the second inning. The sophomore later scored on an RBI single by Megan Geer.
The Lady Vols scored two runs in the bottom of the third—a sac fly by Meghan Gregg and an RBI single by Rainey Gaffin. Tennessee had a 3-0 lead after three innings.
After starting pitcher Gretchen Aucoin walked two of the first three batters of the fourth inning, Rainey Gaffin came in to relieve her. Aucoin finished the day with no hits, no runs, six strikeouts and two walks in 3.1 innings.
Co-head coach Karen Weekly was pleased with how Aucoin pitched in this game, yet mentioned that none of the Lady Vols pitchers have reached “ace” status yet.
“That’s really not what we’re looking for,” Weekly said. “We want them all to carry their weight when they get in there, and that’s what we’re going to keep working for.”
The Lady Vols’ bats came alive in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Gaffin and Taylor Koenig were hit by pitches, Megan Geer smashed a three-run homer to dead center field to give the Lady Vols a 6-0 lead. The next three batters all reached base, and, with the bases jammed, freshman Meghan Gregg crushed a two-RBI double into center field. The score reached 8-0, and the Lady Vols were rewarded with the run-rule victory against Purdue (12-8).
As Gretchen Aucoin picked up the win, Rainey Gaffin was rewarded with the save—the team’s first save since April 22, 2014 against Furman. Gaffin pitched 1.2 innings and allowed only one hit with no runs and one strikeout.
The Lady Vols got off to a hot start against the Sycamores in their second game of the day. Tennessee would score seven runs in the first inning to go on to run-rule Indiana State 12-0.
Tennessee was on fire from the beginning. With the bases loaded, Annie Aldrete smacked an RBI single to give UT its first run of the game. Megan Geer received a bases loaded walk, and Lexi Overstreet crushed a double that plated two. Meghan Gregg and Shaliyah Geathers both hit RBI singles. Gregg’s drove in two runs while Geathers’ brought home Scarlet McSwain. The Lady Vols ended the inning on a line-out to the shortstop, but not after they had a 7-0 cushion.
Cheyanne Tarango would come in to pitch for Gretchen Aucoin in the top of the second. Aucoin struck out the side in the top of the first and didn’t allow a hit or a run in her one inning.
The Lady Vols continued scoring into the second and third innings. In the second, Megan Geer and Meghan Gregg would each hit an RBI single to give the Lady Vols a 9-0 lead. After a ground out by Rainey Gaffin in the third, Taylor Koenig and Annie Aldrete would hit back-to-back solo home runs give the Lady Vols an 11-0 lead. Later in the third, Erin Gabriel would step up to the plate and smack her first career hit—an RBI double to right-center field. The Lady Vols had a 12-0 lead after three innings of play.
The Lady Vols would close out their opponent in the fourth and fifth innings. Erin Gabriel would come in at the top of the fourth inning and shutout the Sycamores to help secure the Lady Vols’ 12-0 victory.
Tarango was rewarded the win after the game. The senior pitched two innings and gave up only two hits while fanning two batters.
Coach Weekly praised her pitching staff after the game.
“Today really was a pitch-by-committee effort,” Weekly said. “I think today that they really complimented each other.”
The Lady Vols finish tournament play with a 5-0 record with four of those wins being run-ruled victories. Tennessee will have a matchup at home on Tuesday against Illinois State at 6 p.m. before opening up SEC play next Thursday at South Carolina. The Lady Vols will play a three game series with the Gamecocks—Thursday at 6 p.m., Friday at 2 p.m., and Saturday at 1 p.m. All of those games will be available on the SEC Network +.
Weekly discussed the matchup next week against their first SEC opponent of the year.
“The SEC has just gotten stronger and stronger,” Weekly said. “They’ve (South Carolina) got a lot of good young players and a lot of experienced players…The SEC is dog-eat-dog, and it’s gonna be that way every week.”
