After numerous tough match-ups at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational this weekend, the No. 6 Lady Vols finished 3-2, bringing their overall record to 8-2. Despite earlier successes in the Invitational, they capped off the weekend with a close loss against No. 1 Florida State (11-0).
The Lady Vols fell just short of a victory against the defending national champions, the undefeated Seminoles, with the game ending 5-2. Caylan Arnold started Tennessee off and threw 1.1 innings with one strikeout, giving up two runs and being charged with the loss. Arnold was then relieved by Ashley Rogers, who threw for the remainder of the 4.2 innings. Rogers had seven strikeouts and allowed three runs on five hits.
Florida State took an early lead in the first after hitting a home run to left-center. They then extended their lead to 2-0 after scoring one run on three hits.
After Rogers finished the second with strikeouts, the Seminoles pushed for three more runs and scored on two long balls. Florida State pitcher Meghan King took a perfect game into the fourth, retiring the first ten Tennessee batters she faced, handing out five strikeouts before allowing a single.
Tennessee finally regained some hope in the fourth when Amanda Ayala hit a single to left before Chelsea Seggern walked to put runners on both first and second. It didn’t take long for Ashley Morgan to load the bases on another single.
Shipman soon hit a two-RBI single up the middle to plate both of Tennessee’s runs. The Lady Vols had a chance to shorten Florida State’s lead even more when Haley Bearden hit a possible game-tying home run that was apprehended by the Seminoles center fielder, Dani Morgan, after jumping the wall and giving Tennessee its third out.
Tennessee was able to put runners into scoring positions again in the fifth, but couldn’t maintain the momentum after the frame ended with succeeding outs. King again left eight out of the last nine Tennessee batters she faced with strikeouts, ultimately securing the win for her team.
After the remaining scoreless innings, the ballgame ended 5-2 and the Lady Vols took home their second loss of the tournament and season, having lost 2-6 to James Madison earlier in the weekend. Tennessee was able to knock off Notre Dame, Minnesota and Utah.
Tennessee will play next this upcoming Tuesday, traveling up the road to Johnson City to play the ETSU Buccaneers. The game will begin at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live via radio broadcast on UTSports.com.
Following that, the Lady Vols will play their first games at home this weekend in the Tennessee Classic, a five game invitational held in the friendly confines of Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, where they will face teams like Virginia and Louisville.
