No. 14 Tennessee Clinches Series With State, 6-3
May 25, 2016 | Softball
Lady Vols Pound Out 10 Hits, Capitalize On Early Lead
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Rookie Monica Abbott's fourth inning RBI single put visiting and 14th-ranked Tennessee up for good as the Lady Vols capitalized on 10 base hits to take a 6-3 victory over host Mississippi State and clinch its three-game series with the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon at the Mississippi State Softball Field.
Birmingham, Ala., freshman Katie Johnson's 2-for-3 day at the plate paced a trio of Mississippi State players with multi-hit games. Seniors Iyhia McMichael and Blaire Brown both turned in 2-for-4 batting clips for the Bulldogs as well. Kristi Durant led the Lady Vols on a 2-for-3 showing, while Amber Rhinehart tallied a pair of RBI on a 1-for-4 day, to anchor Tennessee's fifth-straight double digit hit total in the series.
Mississippi State starter Kelli Miller (5-6) surrendered an early lead and never recovered, taking the loss after giving up five earned runs on six hits and one walk. Mississippi State got to UT starter Stacey Jennings early before chasing the righthander in the third, but Abbott (22-4) picked up the victory in a relief role. The Salinas, Calif., rookie scattered four hits over five innings of work, striking out four and walking a pair in the decision.
We didn't help ourselves by giving up that home run in the first inning, but we scratched ourselves right back in the game, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. We made some little mistakes defensively that gave them some runs, but I thought we competed a lot better in the second game. We have to get better pitching. When you give up double-digit hits, you're not going to win many games in the SEC.
Tennessee manufactured a 1-0 lead with its first two at-bats of the contest, getting leadoff batter Lindsay Schutzler to second on a single and an error, before Katherine Card plated the run on a double to the gap in left centerfield. Two batters later, the Lady Vols pushed their lead out to 3-0 on an Amber Rhinehart homer.
State answered in its half of the first, scoring its first run on a bases loaded walk issued to Jennifer Waterman, then trimming its deficit down to a single run on a fielder's choice RBI by Katie Johnson. After shutting down Tennessee in the second and third innings, State knotted the game back up in the third, utilizing a pair of hits and a wild pitch to set the table for a RBI single to leftfield by Chelle McDonald.
Abbott's single, coupled with the same output by Ashley Cline later in the fourth, gave UT a 5-3 lead heading into the fifth. The Lady Vols would add an insurance run in the seventh on a sac fly from the bat of Lauren Mattox.
Mississippi State will attempt to salvage its series with Tennessee Sunday afternoon when the Bulldogs suit up to face the Orange in the series finale at 12:30 p.m. at the Mississippi State Softball Field. Admission to all 2004 Mississippi State Softball home games is free.
