Despite a run in the fifth inning, it was far from a perfect frame. Maddi Rutan had a chance to tie it, but hesitation on a passed ball saw her easily tossed out at home.
Tennessee softball dropped its fourth straight SEC game, and second straight series to Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon in a 2-1 loss. The Lady Vols (29-5, 6-5 SEC) looked untouchable to start the year, but have since lost their footing since conference play began. The Rebels (23-14, 2-9) capitalized on Tennessee’s mistakes, stealing their first SEC series this year.
Karlyn Pickens got the start in the circle for Tennessee. She tossed a complete game, striking out six while walking four. She allowed two hits in her third loss of the season.
While she was good enough to give a chance for a win, the Lady Vols couldn’t support her.
She began her outing with a strikeout and two groundouts, and Tennessee’s bats started making contact early. Two hits in the first frame nearly matched its total of three from Friday night’s contest, but both Ella Dodge and Emma Clarke were stranded after a strikeout.
Neither team could manage anything in the second frame, but the Rebels took the lead in the third.
A single and walk started the inning, and it wouldn’t get much better defensively. Tennessee allowed one runner to cross after Alannah Leach couldn’t field a fly ball in left field. The second scored an at-bat later after a fielder’s choice to Bella Faw netted no outs.
Pickens halted the Rebels’ run with a double play and a lineout back to her, stranding two runners in scoring position. The Lady Vols responded with three consecutive outs in the bottom of the third, leaving them in a 2-0 deficit.
“Sometimes when you’re struggling, and you’re trying so hard to get on the right side of the scoreboard, you almost try too hard,” head coach Karen Weekly said. “You end up shooting yourself in the foot. There’s just been some crazy plays these last couple days. We have this one bad inning from an error standpoint, and then you feel like we’re about to break something open, but things aren’t falling.”
Pickens walked one in an otherwise clean fourth frame. Leach singled to center field, but a strikeout ended the inning.
Two reached base for Ole Miss in the fifth, but both were stranded.
The Lady Vols started the fifth with a big break. The Rebels’ miscommunication on Rutan’s infield fly led to a double, Tennessee’s first extra-base hit of the afternoon. Taelyn Holley walked on the next at-bat, giving the Lady Vols two on with no outs.
Faw laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving both runners into scoring position with one out.
Then disaster struck.
A passed ball sailed past the catcher, and Rutan was faced with a decision to stay at third or race home. She chose the latter, but hesitated, which gave Ole Miss plenty of time to tag her out at home.
“We’ve got a pretty short area from home plate to our wall, so most walls that hit the wall, you’re not going to be able to score on,” Weekly said. “She did the right thing there by not going right away when the balls sailed, then the ball took a funny ricochet, but the hesitation had already cost us the time it would take to score.”
Sophia Knight ripped a double into center field, scoring Holley for the only output of the contest. Dodge fouled out to end the inning, ending Tennessee’s momentum.
Neither team could muster an offense to finish the game. Ole Miss managed a double, but no other hits. The Lady Vols fared no better, as Meredith Barnhart’s single up the middle was the final baserunner of the contest. Makenzie Butt grounded into a double-play two at-bats later, ending the game and the series.
With the 2-1 loss, Tennessee is now 1-4 in its last five games and 0-4 in its last four SEC games. The Lady Vols look to avoid the sweep on Sunday, March 29, at 1:30 p.m. ET at home.
“I’m not surprised this team is going through this,” Weekly said. “We’ve been a young team since we started, and so you kind of knew that we were going to hit a few walls at certain times of the season. I still believe in this team as much as I ever have.”
