University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
25-8, 6-3
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Mississippi State
20-12, 1-5
Vols Sweep No. 25 Mississippi State with 9-4 Win
March 27, 2016 | Softball
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Another solid offensive performance led No. 17 Tennessee to a 9-4 victory over No. 25 Mississippi State on Easter Sunday to complete the series sweep of the Bulldogs at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
Eight Volunteers posted a hit and seven drove in runs in a balanced performance throughout the lineup. UT displayed its patience at the plate once again by drawing nine walks from five different Bulldogs' pitchers. The Volunteers scored six or more runs in all three games of the series and 23 total off the MSU pitching staff, which entered the weekend with the fourth best team ERA in the nation.
Tennessee (25-8, 6-3 SEC) has now swept both of its SEC opponents at home this season after sweeping Arkansas to open SEC play two weeks ago. The Vols also remained undefeated at home with the victory, improving to 13-0 in Knoxville.
Scarlet McSwain came up with a clutch hit to give the Big Orange an early 2-0 lead. With two outs and the bases loaded, McSwain sent a sharp grounder through the right side to score Megan Geer and Brooke Vines in the bottom of the first.
The Vols added another pair of runs in the third inning to increase their lead to four. Vines led off with her SEC-leading fourth triple of the season and came in to score on a Lexi Overstreet RBI single two batters later. Gretchen Aucoin drew a bases-loaded walk later in the inning to make it 4-0 Tennessee after three innings of play.
The Bulldogs (20-12, 1-5 SEC) got two runs back with a two-run homer to left field by Caroline Seitz in the top of the fifth, cutting the UT lead to 4-2. Caroline Carter also scored on the play after leading off the inning with a single.
UT got those runs right back and then some in the bottom half of the fifth, scoring three runs, all with two outs. Rainey Gaffin started things off with a line-drive home run over the right field wall. The solo shot was the third homer of the season for the senior from Thornton, Colo. The Vols went on to load the bases and score two more runs with back-to-back RBI walks from Vines and Meghan Gregg to increase the lead to five.
Tennessee added another pair of insurance runs in bottom of the sixth as Shaliyah Geathers scored on a wild pitch and McSwain came home on an RBI-single by Aubrey Leach to make it 9-2. Eight of the Volunteers' nine runs on the afternoon came with two outs.
Mississippi State put together one last rally with two runs in the top of the seventh but never really threatened to tie the game. The Big Orange used four pitchers on the afternoon with Matty Moss picking up her seventh win after tossing 2.2 innings in relief.
The Vols begin a four-game road swing on Tuesday when they travel across the state to Nashville for a matchup with Lipscomb at 6 p.m. ET. Fans can listen to the game live on WNML AM 990.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Moss, Matty (7-2)
L: Holly Ward (9-4)
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Batting:
2B: Caroline Seitz 1
HR: Caroline Seitz 1
RBI: Caroline Seitz 4
SH: Caroline Seitz 1 ; Katie Anne Bailey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kayla Winkfield 1 ; Caroline Seitz 1 ; Kat Moore 1 ; Carmen Carter 1
CS: Kayla Winkfield 1
Batting:
2B: Geathers, Shaliyah 1
3B: Vines, Brooke 1
HR: Gaffin, Rainey 1
RBI: Vines, Brooke 1 ; Gregg, Meghan 1 ; Overstreet, Lexi 1 ; McSwain, Scarlet 2 ; Gaffin, Rainey 1 ; Aucoin, Gretchen 1 ; Leach, Aubrey 1
SH: Vines, Brooke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vines, Brooke 1 ; Gregg, Meghan 1 ; Overstreet, Lexi 2 ; Geathers, Shaliyah 1 ; McSwain, Scarlet 1 ; Gaffin, Rainey 1 ; Aucoin, Gretchen 1 ; Leach, Aubrey 1
