In front of crowds of over 1,700 each day this weekend, the No. 3 Lady Vols swept the Auburn Tigers to improve to 38-6 and 12-3 in conference play, even though they had to endure some defensive struggles.
In what was Tennessee’s most complete game of the series, things got heated between Auburn head coach Tina Deese and Tennessee co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly after Sunday’s outcome had already been decided.
With the score 6-0 in UT’s favor — in part due to a four-run third inning where Cheyanne Tarango and Melissa Davin hit back-to-back home runs — a pitch from Ivy Renfroe ran high and inside, hitting Auburn first baseman Morgan Estell in the head.
Estell laid motionless on the dirt for a few moments before eventually being helped off the field by medical personnel.
The Auburn coaches did not take lightly to the errant pitch.
“I could just sense there was some anxiety on the other side of the field,” Karen Weekly said. “That maybe that was more than just a ball that got away.
“There is a little bit of history that goes years back. We buried the hatchet a long time ago, and I just told her I don’t want to go back there. It was a tough series and frustrating series for Auburn. At the end of a series like that and your best player gets hit in the head, emotions can get high.”
At the beginning of the weekend, Tennessee jumped on top of the Tigers early in Friday night’s matchup, building a comfortable 5-0 lead before Auburn woke up. The Tigers scored three in the sixth off Ellen Renfroe, forcing UT to go to the bullpen.
In the seventh, All-American Raven Chavanne had an uncharacteristic mental lapse in deciding on where to go with the ball which put Auburn in a position to tie or go ahead.
“The second baseman (Lauren Gibson) yelled two at the last second and I should have just ignored it and gone one,” Chavanne said of the play. “It was my fault, I should have just kept going (to first).”
Luckily for Chavanne, senior Ivy Renfroe got a strikeout with the bases loaded to preserve the 5-3 win.
“Ivy did a great job of coming back and getting the out for us,” Chavanne said. “She picked me up there after my mistake.”
On Saturday morning four of the six Tennessee seniors — Lauren Gibson, Kat Dotson, Ivy Renfroe and Melissa Brown — were honored for Senior Day before the game. And the seniors delivered on their day.
Gibson and Dotson each had an RBI in the third inning to give UT the lead, and Renfroe went all seven to notch her 15th win of the season.
“It’s always nice to knock runs in and it’s especially nice to do it with my family here,” Gibson said.
Center fielder Tory Lewis made the play of the game, though, gunning out Branndi Melero at home plate to preserver the then 2-1 Lady Vols lead in the fourth inning.
“Tory Lewis is a big time performer defensively,” Ralph Weekly said Saturday. “That’s why she is out there.”
The three-game sweep of the Tigers gives Tennessee its third straight SEC series sweep, extends its win streak from 12 to 15 games and with some help from Kentucky over the weekend gives the Lady Vols lone possession of first place in the conference.
But Karen Weekly doesn’t want the success to be a distraction for her team.
“If we start thinking about that (being in first) or win streaks than we get away from the little things, and the little things are the reasons we are winning ballgames,” Karen Weekly said.
Madison Shipman had a very strong weekend for Tennessee, going 5-for-9 from the dish with four RBIs, two runs scored and drew two walks.
