The last game of the regular season was well worth the price of admission as a nail-biter played out at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. Tennessee softball finished off the regular season with an 8-7, extra-inning win over Kentucky.
No. 3 Tennessee (40-9, 19-5 SEC) continued its offensive onslaught of No. 24 Kentucky (30-21, 8-16) as it swept a series for the third time.
“Every weekend we’re learning something new,” head coach Karen Weekly said. “Today we learned new things, and they just continue to be receptive to growing and I think that’s why we’re having the success we’ve had.”
It was a rough start to the afternoon for the Tennessee defense, racking up two errors in the top of the first. With two runners in scoring position, center fielder Kiki Milloy held the potential go-ahead run at third base with a strong throw to home plate. Senior starter Ryleigh White eventually got out of the jam with a groundout.
The Lady Vols kept the home run trend from the prior two games rolling in their half of the inning with a leadoff shot from Milloy — her second homer of the series. Taylor Pannell kept her hot series going, driving home the second run with a single up the middle. Tennessee would load the bases with one out but failed to bring home a third run in the frame.
“So exciting, and so happy for Taylor,” Weekly said. “She had a heck of a weekend. She’s really come on strong here as we’re getting to the end of the season. She’s a pure hitter. It’s just nice from a coaching perspective knowing we can do that anywhere in the lineup.”
Kentucky lit up the scoreboard in the second inning thanks to a pinch-hit home run from Peyton Plotts. It was the Wildcats’ first hit of the day off of White, and she exited the game after giving up a double to the next batter. For the second time in the series, Payton Gottshall entered in relief and recorded two quick fly-ball outs to get out of the inning.
A leadoff single and a walk set the stage for a McKenna Gibson double off of the right-center field wall to give Tennessee a one-run lead in the bottom half. Rylie West added another run with a sac-fly. Pannell hit a hard line drive to center field, but it was caught by the Kentucky defender to end the inning.
Gottshall came out in the third inning to put the Wildcats down in order, a return to form after her rocky start from the night prior.
A leadoff single couldn’t spark a rally in the Lady Vols’ half of the inning, and for the first time all afternoon, they couldn’t tally a run.
A walk and infield hit to start the fourth inning didn’t phase Gottshall in the circle. She retired three batters in a row to shut down the Wildcat bats.
Milloy began the frame with a double for Tennessee, and Zaida Puni walked. Rylie West came up with a clutch single to add some insurance for the Lady Vols. Pannell added another RBI to her day, continuing to swing a hot bat. Destiny Rodriguez brought home the final run of the inning via a groundout to second.
The Wildcats fought back in the fifth inning with a two-run homer courtesy of Ally Hutchins, giving the Kentucky designated player her second homer off of Gottshall in the series. Karlyn Pickens entered and immediately gave up a two-run shot of her own to cut the Tennessee lead to one, stunning the Sherri Parker Lee Stadium crowd. She was able to end the Kentucky rally with a strikeout.
The Lady Vols were able to get a runner into scoring position when Giulia Koutsoyanopulos stole second base after pinch running for Gabby Leach. The valuable insurance run would continue to evade Tennessee, though, as it couldn’t force across the runner.
Pickens ran into some trouble in the sixth inning with a two-out, bases-loaded jam. She threw a wild pitch and the Wildcats capitalized, tying the game at seven. On a 3-2 count, she got a big strikeout of Hutchins to cut the damage to only one run.
The Lady Vols got their frame started with a bang on a West double. After a series of delays due to cross-ups between the Kentucky battery, Rodriguez hit a long drive to the right-center field gap where a potential game-saving play was made by the Kentucky defender. Katie Taylor struck out, stranding the go-ahead run on second.
The Wildcats led off the seventh inning with a double, but Pickens fought back to get the next three batters in order.
The Lady Vols got the winning run to third base in the form of Koutsoyanopulos, but Gibson failed to bring her in.
Extra innings got underway with Pickens sending Kentucky down in order in the eighth.
Pannell was the hero after she capped off her series with a homer to win it.
“I was just looking for a pitch right over the middle,” Pannell said. “I was just trying to get on base, but the result happened for itself. I was just not swinging at balls and staying in the zone.”
