Karlyn Pickens closed out the game for the second straight night against Missouri for Tennessee softball.
Situational hitting backed up the pitching, as the Lady Vols defeated Missouri 4-2 and claimed the team’s fourth consecutive conference series win. Ella Dodge led the way for the Lady Vols (42-8, 16-7 SEC) with three of the team’s four runs coming off her bat.
“Today felt a whole lot like yesterday in a way that the game came down to the wire in the score and everything,” Tennessee softball head coach Karen Weekly said. “What I really liked is that we strung things together, Ella Dodge got us going with that massive homer.”
The scoring started in the first inning, yet it was the Tigers (27-28, 8-15 SEC) who struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Stefania Abruscato singled down the right-field line, scoring the Tigers’ leadoff runner for an early 1-0 lead, and it took a moment for the team’s offense to find its rhythm.
While the offense warmed up, standing in the circle for the Lady Vols was Sage Mardjetko, who started Thursday’s game but went only 0.2 innings. While the first inning was a rather rough start for Mardjetko, she locked in and finished her outing with 5.0 innings, only one earned run, five hits, two walks and striking out seven Missouri batters.
“That was big time getting out of that first inning with only one run,” Weekly said. “To limit the damage to that was huge and it just speaks to Sage and the competitor she is, and I thought she got stronger as the game got along.”
Dodge got the scoring started for the Lady Vols in the top of the third inning, on a 1-1 count, evening the game back at one run.
With a tied game entering the fourth inning, Dodge, in her third at-bat, singled in two more runs with Maddi Rutan and Bella Faw crossing home against Missouri starter Marissa McCann.
Makenzie Butt kept the bats rolling the next inning as a pinch hitter, and for the second straight day, only needed one at-bat to make a difference with a single up the middle, scoring Emma Clarke.
“It’s the toughest thing to do in sports, because hitting is the hardest skill in any sport, and pinch hitting is really tough,” Weekly said. “It takes a special kind of person who has the right kind of mindset.”
With a 4-2 lead, Pickens entered the game riding high after a big performance on Thursday, where she posted 6.1 innings, allowing one run. She once again earned the save, striking out four over two innings and walking none.
Now the Lady Vols go for a sweep on Saturday with Erin Nuwer in line to handle some of the pitching load.
