University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
7-3
USF
2-7
Gaffin & Gabriel Lead UT to Gritty Win over USF
February 20, 2016 | Softball
Box Score | Ralph Weekly Postgame | Gaffin Postgame |
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- No. 12/14 Tennessee turned in a gritty effort to earn a 6-4 win over South Florida in Saturday's final game at the Michele Smith Pediatric Cancer Invitational.
Rainey Gaffin and Megan Geer both hit solo home runs to lead the Vols offensively while Erin Gabriel earned her fourth win of the season, pitching 5.1 innings and striking out six batters.
The Vols (7-3) jumped out to a 2-run lead in the second inning that was aided by some sloppy defensive play from the Bulls. Lexi Overstreet led off with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Geer. A passed ball allowed Overstreet to move to third and she scored on an error by USF's shortstop Cassidy Boyle. Abby Lockman scored the second run of the inning on a wild pitch to put the Vols up 2-0.
USF struck back with a run in the bottom of the second, cutting the lead in half with a solo home run by Mia Fung. The Bulls tied things up one inning later on an RBI single by Erica Nunn with runners on the corners.
The Big Orange quickly retook the lead on Geer's leadoff solo homer in the top of the fourth, her second of the day and team-leading third of the season. They added another pair of runs later in the inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Aubrey Leach and Gretchen Aucoin to extend the lead to 5-2.
The Bulls (2-7) clawed back again in fifth inning with a pair of runs to cut the lead to one. Juli Weber scored from first on a triple by Astin Donovan, who ended up scoring on an error later in the inning.
For the second time in the game, Tennessee led off an inning with a home run as Gaffin took Cheyenne Eggens deep to make it 6-4 and swing the momentum back to the Vols. It was the first home run of the year for Gaffin.
The senior from Thornton, Colo., also came up big in the circle, spelling Gabriel in relief twice to earn her second save of the year. Gaffin struck out the side in the sixth before giving way to Gabriel in the seventh after walking the leadoff batter. However, Gaffin reentered to record the final out with runners on second and third, striking out Kenya Yancy to end the game.
Leach had another solid day at the plate for UT, going 2-for-3 with an RBI while Gretchen Aucoin also recorded an RBI for the Vols in the win.
Tennessee plays its final game this week tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. when they take on DePaul at the Eddie C. Moore Complex.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gabriel, Erin (4-1)
L: NUNN, Erica (0-4)
S: Gaffin, Rainey (2)
Batting:
2B: McSwain, Scarlet 1
HR: Geer, Megan 1 ; Gaffin, Rainey 1
RBI: Leach, Aubrey 1 ; Aucoin, Gretchen 1 ; Geer, Megan 1 ; Gaffin, Rainey 1
SH: Vines, Brooke 1 ; Geer, Megan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Overstreet, Lexi 1 ; Geer, Megan 1 ; Lockman, Abby 1 ; Huffstetler, Savannah 1 ; McSwain, Scarlet 1 ; Gaffin, Rainey 1
SB: Leach, Aubrey 1
Batting:
3B: DONOVAN, Astin 1
HR: FUNG, Mia 1
RBI: DONOVAN, Astin 1 ; NUNN, Erica 1 ; FUNG, Mia 1
SH: DONOVAN, Astin 2
Base Running:
RUNS: WEBER, Juli 2 ; DONOVAN, Astin 1 ; FUNG, Mia 1
CS: WYCKOFF, Kristen 1
HBP: WYCKOFF, Kristen 1
