Erin Nuwer picked up where she left off just a day prior as the Lady Vols closed their second straight day of doubleheader action against North Carolina Central.
The Lady Vols’ pitching staff made more history as they defeated North Carolina Central 8-0 in a five-inning run rule. Nuwer and Sage Mardjetko combined for the team’s third no-hitter of the season.
Despite a two-out walk, Nuwer locked right back in against Kendal Daniels, sitting her down for her third strikeout of the inning.
After Nuwer’s strong start, the Lady Vols’ (18-0) offense picked her right up with some timely hitting. Sophia Knight hit a soft leadoff double that found a gap in left field before she was driven in by Ella Dodge not long after.
“What was really cool this weekend was to see Sophia swing away,” Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly said. “That’s a tool she’s very comfortable with, and I’d love to see her hit some balls to the wall.”
After the back-to-back doubles, Elsa Morrison brought in the third run of the inning from a sacrifice fly, pushing the early first-inning lead to 3-0 Lady Vols.
NC Central (1-16) continued to have not much of an answer in the second inning. Despite no strikeouts, Nuwer forced quick work of the next three batters, and the half inning ended after just nine pitches and no runs.
After a quick Jackie Kirkpatrick pop-out to second base, leading off the second inning, Bella Faw followed her up with a walk. The lineup turned over, giving Knight her second at-bat in as many innings. She stayed hot with her second double of the day, scoring Faw in the process.
Deja vu struck, as Dodge once again doubled in Knight for the second time on the day, just an inning later, as the Lady Vols moved their early lead to five runs in the bottom of the second.
“We tried Ella in two spots today,” Weekly said. “That’s something that we’ll look at doing. She’s been doing a great job at the four spot, but when somebody is swinging the bat like that, you want to give them as many swings as you can.”
With still just one out in the bottom of the second, the Lady Vols’ offense kept its foot on the gas. Taelyn Holley joined in the party with a single up the middle gap, scoring Dodge.
After the single, Elsa Morrison doubled to left field, which then scored Holley. Morrison advanced to third after a wild throw at home plate. Despite Gabby Leach grounding out for the second out of the inning, she still scored Morrison from third. By the end of the second, the Lady Vols led 8-0 while Nuwer had allowed no hits on the other side.
Nuwer stayed on track at the top of the third yet again, striking out two of the three batters faced in the inning.
By the start of the fourth inning and the Lady Vols leading 8-0, Weekly turned to the bullpen with Sage Mardjetko taking the ball from Nuwer. Nuwer’s day finished with three total innings; she allowed no hits and no runs while walking one batter and striking out five. Her season ERA moves down to 0.21.
“We talk a lot about getting first pitch strikes, just staying on the attack no matter where you’re at in the lineup,” Nuwer said. “And I think today, Sage and I both talked about it, we’re just going to try and throw as few pitches as possible.”
Mardjetko allowed one baserunner to reach in the first from a hit by pitch, yet still struck out three batters to close the fourth.
The offense remained silent after a loud first two innings; in the first two, the team scored a combined eight runs, and in the next two, they scored none.
Nonetheless, the team still led by eight, and with the run-rule in effect, Mardjetko handled the final three outs, closing the door on the game in just five innings. The Lady Vols close up the Tennessee Invitational on Sunday against Appalachian State at 12:30 pm ET.
