LSU (38-5, 11-4 SEC) brought their brooms to Lee Stadium on Sunday afternoon in hopes of sweeping the Lady Vols in front of their home fans.
Tennessee wouldn’t allow it, however, as it went on to mop up the Tigers in an 8-5 win that showed Rainey Gaffin pitching the first seven-inning game of her collegiate career.
“I’m a little bit tired, I won’t lie,” Gaffin said after the game. “Ralph told me that I would go as far as I could take the team, and I told him I had his back. He told me in the fifth inning that I had this and to go the rest of the way.”
Gaffin allowed eight hits and five runs, all earned. Her pitch count reached 129, with 80 marked as strikes.
One of the keys to this game was the fact that Tennessee didn’t have to play catch-up late in the game. When the Tigers took a 3-2 lead in the third inning, the Lady Vols responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. They didn’t lose the lead for the rest of the game.
“I told them (the team) that it was an awesome feeling to know that if LSU scored runs, we automatically came back right away and scored runs,” Gaffin said. “It was able to take some weight off my shoulders, and I was relaxed more to know that my team had my back 100 percent.”
Annie Aldrete controlled the plate for the Lady Vols’ offense. The sophomore slugger slapped her 12th home run of the year, leaving her one away from tying the sophomore record set by Tonya Callahan in 2006.
Along with driving in a team-high three RBIs, Aldrete also moves into sole possession for fifth place on the all-time home run list for Tennessee. Aldrete sits with 31 home runs right now, and is currently eight home runs away from taking over fourth place from Jessica Spigner.
After the game, Aldrete seemed more concerned about the task at hand than the home run record.
“I don’t think I’m producing for my team as much as I should lately, so for me to come out and get it done for them feels amazing,” Aldrete said. “That’s all I want to do is get it done for them. I want us to win as many games as possible, and I wanna do it for my pitchers and the hitters.”
With the win, the Lady Vols avoid what would have been their first three-game series sweep since May 2011. This is the first time since March 2013 that Tennessee (30-11, 8-7 SEC) has beaten the No. 1 team in the country.
“At this point, in this season, it’s a pretty big deal,” co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. “My hat’s off to LSU. I think they’re a deserving No. 1 team. We’ve got ’em behind us, but it doesn’t get any easier with Mississippi State, Alabama or finishing with Kentucky.”
Aldrete led the team in long balls this series with two. Lexi Overstreet was the only other Lady Vol to homer.
Meanwhile, LSU, who entered hitting two home runs in road games this season, hit seven homers as a team. Three of those shots were courtesy of catcher Kellsi Kloss, who brought her season total up to nine.
The Lady Vols will travel to East Tennessee State on Tuesday for a make-up game from earlier this season. That game will begin at 6 p.m.
Tennessee’s next SEC series will be against Mississippi State (31-12, 9-9 SEC) in Starkville. The Bulldogs beat No. 1 LSU 9-4 on April 8, and will be hungry to do the same against the Lady Vols.
The series begins on April 17 at 6:30 p.m. and concludes on April 19 at 2 p.m. None of these games are scheduled to be televised.
The Lady Vols’ next home game will be on April 21 against Kennesaw State at 6 p.m.
