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NO. 6/7 LADY VOLS FALL TO NO. 3/3 FLORIDA, 5-3, IN EIGHT INNINGS
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --
Lauren Gibson had a homer and two RBIs to lead the Lady Vol attack, but
Florida's Lauren Haeger hit a three-run blast in the sixth and a
two-run shot in the eighth to carry the No. 3/3 Gators past No. 6/7
Tennessee, 5-3, on Sunday at Pressly Stadium.
Tennessee
(23-6, 3-3 SEC) led the game through the first five and a half frames
before Florida (27-3, 4-2 SEC) came back thanks to Haeger's two big
swings.
Gibson was 2-for-4 with a solo homer in
the third, two RBIs and one walk. Kat Dotson drew here walks and had
one run and one stolen base. Lexi Overstreet went 2-for-4 with one run
scored.
Ivy Renfroe (9-3) took the loss after
striking out four over 2.1 frames in relief and giving up two runs on
Haeger's homer in the eighth. Ellen Renfroe started the game and
pitched five shutout frames with five strikeouts before Haeger's
three-run shot in the sixth.
Haeger (8-1) also
earned the win in the circle after tossing 1.1 scoreless innings in
relief. Hannah Rogers started the game and struck out five and allowed
three runs (two earned) over 6.2 innings.
Tennessee
took a 1-0 lead in the second when Overstreet hit a one-out single to
right field to plate Dotson from second base. The Lady Vols loaded the
bases, but Rogers escaped, getting a 2-6 force out at home and then
inducing a bases-loaded groundout to first base.
UT's
lead grew to 2-0 in the top of the third inning when Gibson drilled a
2-1 pitch over the fence down the right field line for her sixth home
run of the season.
In the top of the sixth,
Overstreet led off the inning with a single to right field. Four
batters later, with runners on the corners, Gibson clubbed a single to
right field to bring in Overstreet and extend the Lady Vols' advantage
to 3-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, with two on
and no outs, Haeger sent a 1-2 pitch from Ellen Renfroe over the wall
in left to even the game at 3-3. Ivy Renfroe entered the circle to get
three outs and close the sixth.
Cheyanne Tarango and Dotson drew
one-out walks in the seventh, but UT left two runners stranded as
Rogers induced a foulout down the left field line and Haeger entered to
produce a groundout to third.
In the top of the eighth, Melissa
Davin reached on a fielding error at short and two batters later Gibson
walked on five pitches. Haeger escaped when Madison Shipman flied out
to right field.
Kelsey Stewart opened the bottom
of the eighth with a single to left. Ivy Renfroe sent Kirsti Merritt
down swinging in the next at-bat. Then, with one on and one out, Haeger
belted a walk-off two-run jack on an 0-1 count to left center.
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