Unbelievable Vols soft ball player request to leave the team after facing……..more
The No. 4 Lady Vols (28-4, 8-0 SEC) take the series against the Tigers (15-11-1, 2-9) and remain unbeaten in SEC play. Tennessee’s winning streak reached 20 games with the victory, and the streak still leads Division I.
“At the end of the day, it’s a W,” Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly said on postgame radio. “It wasn’t pretty, but we had a lot of different people do some good things for usOne of those people was Charli Orsini. She made her first SEC appearance of the season on Saturday, throwing three scoreless innings in relief. She only allowed two hits during her outing.
For the first time all season in conference play, the Lady Vols used three pitchers. They were still able to thrive in that situation.
“We’ve got pitchers besides Payton (Gottshall) and Karlyn (Pickens) that we know can come in and do some things for us,” Weekly said on postgame radio. “I can’t say I’m disappointed that we got put in that situation because we weren’t going to go through the whole season and never get there.”
Tennessee’s bats started the game hot after hitting three home runs on Friday. McKenna Gibson hit a two-run home run, driving in Zaida Puni. Before starting pitcher Payton Gottshall took the field, the Lady VolAuburn cut down Tennessee’s lead with a KK McCrary home run in the bottom half of the inning. Taylor Pannell came back with a homer in the top of the second, restoring the two-run advantage for the Lady Vols.
Puni added another home run for the Lady Vols in the third inning, forcing Auburn to make a pitching change. Kiki Milloy scored on a fielding error, adding to Tennessee’s lead. McCrary hit another home run, trying to keep Auburn in the game
Giulia Koutsoyanopulos added a two-run home run for the Lady Vols, driving in Sophia Nugent. Icess Tresvik hit a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning, cutting Tennessee’s lead back to three.
Tennessee’s four home runs came from four different players. In a game where the Lady Vols needed power, they were able to find it throughout the lineup.
“Fortunately, we just hit more than they did,” Weekly said on postgame radio. “I think one through nine, anybody in that lineup can take it out, so that’s one thing that’s going right. We never rely on just one part of the lineup.”
Orsini entered the circle and didn’t allow a run in her portion of the fourth inning. She allowed one Auburn player on in the fifth inning but did not allow Rylie West added another run with a base hit in the top of the sixth inning, driving in pinch runner Gabby Leach. Orsini sent the Tigers down in order in the bottom half of the inning.
Tennessee loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning, but it stranded all three runners. In the bottom half of the inning, Orsini allowed one runner aboard and was removed from the game.
Karlyn Pickens entered and finished off the game by drawing two groundouts.
The Lady Vols will go for the series sweep on Sunday. Unlike Saturday’s game, the Lady Vols need to maintain a high level of energy for seven innings.
“Human nature is you play to the mood of the game and do just enough,” Weekly said on postgame radio. “If you want to be champions, you constantly have to be focused on what’s our absolute best.
