With one out in the top of the second inning of the Lady Vols’ second game against Illinois State, Lexi Overstreet, who was subbing in for Annie Aldrete at catcher, picked up a blooper and gunned it over to first to record the second out of the inning to help starting pitcher Erin Gabriel keep her no-hitter intact.
Now, Gabriel and the entire team are celebrating the junior pitcher’s accomplishment after recording a 6-0 shutout over Illinois State.
Overstreet discussed the play after celebrating Gabriel’s amazing feat after the game.
“It was an honor catching her on her first no-hitter,” Overstreet stated. “Erin is happy she did that, but she’s gonna put it on somebody else first…It was really great that I could help her.”
Gabriel’s no-hitter was the 46th in Tennessee softball history—the first seven-inning no-hitter since Tennessee legend Monica Abbott accomplished the feat in 2007. Gabriel’s 16 strikeouts was also the most for a no-hitter since the same 2007 game when Abbott also fanned 16 batters.
“Tonight, I had a goal before the game to just be efficient with my pitches, and to just hold my team because we only had one run entering the sixth inning,” Gabriel said.
The junior didn’t even realize that she was throwing a no-hitter until later in the game.
“We were only up by one for so long that I didn’t think about anything else but keeping my team in the game,” Gabriel stated.
After the Lady Vols crushed the Redbirds 19-3 in the first game of the night, their first five innings of game two started off dry. Tennessee had only four hits with one run through five innings. It wasn’t until an Overstreet double to left field that helped Megan Geer score that the offensive floodgates opened for the Lady Vols.
Tennessee would score five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to help give themselves a 6-0 cushion heading into the top of the seventh. That’s where Gabriel worked her magic. The Poland, OH native forced two batters to strike out swinging before facing her final victim. After getting up in the count 1-2, Gabriel threw a smoking fastball straight down the middle that Redbird designated player Payton Billups watched fly past her.
The game was over, and all that was left to do was celebrate.
“Obviously, it’s a huge milestone for any pitcher to throw a no-hitter,” co-head coach Karen Weekly said after the game. “Erin’s goal before the game was to be efficient tonight. (She threw) under 100 pitches, and to have 16 strikeouts and not that many pitches, that’s pretty phenomenal.”
With a victory in both games, the Lady Vols improve to 18-3 on the season while dropping the Redbirds’ record to 9-15. Up next for the Lady Vols is SEC East rival South Carolina—a team that Tennessee hasn’t lost to since 2003.
Weekly welcomes the challenge that the Gamecocks bring and is excited to finally start SEC play this season.
“I like where we are right now coming off the seven-game swing,” Weekly proclaimed. “We just need to continue to work on being ourselves and getting better and better at plate discipline…making the pitchers get you out instead of getting yourself out.”
South Carolina will host the Lady Vols on Thursday at 6 p.m., Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. Each game of the three-game series will be broadcast on the SEC Network +.
