University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
38-12, 14-6
No. 3/3 Auburn
45-7, 15-5
Vols Sweep Doubleheader vs. #3 Auburn in Dominant Fashion
May 01, 2016 | Softball
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- No. 13/12 Tennessee put together a dominant performance in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader against No. 3/3 Auburn, posting its second run-rule victory of the day in a 12-1 victory over the Tigers at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
Aubrey Leach, Brooke Vines and Gretchen Aucoin all had multi-hit nights while senior Erin Gabriel stifled Auburn's potent offense to earn her 18th win of the season in a complete-game effort on senior weekend.
The Tigers (45-7, 15-5 SEC) entered the series with the nation's highest scoring offense and Gabriel held them to just a single run on the night while striking out four in five innings.
The Vols are the first team to run rule Auburn in back-to-back games since Kentucky in 2009. They have also already scored more runs than any other team has against the Tigers in a series this season. Tennessee's 22 combined runs on Sunday were four more than top-ranked Florida scored against the Auburn in their entire three-game series earlier this year.
Despite the lopsided victory for UT, it was Auburn who struck first for the second straight game. A solo home run from Kasey Cooper gave the Tigers an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The long ball came with two outs and was the 17th of the season for Cooper, who leads the SEC in homers.
However, just like they did in Game 1, the Vols immediately responded to tie the game in the bottom of the first. Leach and Vines led off the inning with back-to-back infield singles and Leach eventually came in to score on an error by Auburn's shortstop to tie the game at one.
The Big Orange batted around and exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a commanding lead they would never relinquish. UT had five hits and also took advantage of three Tigers' errors in the inning. Shaliyah Geathers and Vines both ripped RBI doubles and Lexi Overstreet cleared the bases with a two-RBI single to put the Vols up 8-1 after two innings of play.
Another big inning in the fourth helped the Vols increase their lead to 11. A walk and two singles loaded the bases for Geathers, who drew an RBI walk to drive in her second run of the game. An errant throw on a ground ball from Leach allowed two more runs to cross the plate and Vines capped off the scoring with her third hit of the night, an RBI single to score Geathers and give UT a 12-1 advanatge.
Auburn loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth but Gabriel got Jade Rhodes to strike out swinging to end the game and give Tennessee its 22nd home victory of the season. The Vols own the best home record in the country at 22-1 and have won 14 of those 22 games via run rule. They are also 8-1 against ranked opponents at Lee Stadium this year. A win over the Tigers on Monday would give UT an perfect 12-0 record at home in SEC play this season.
The Orange and White will go for their fourth series sweep this year as they host Auburn for the series finale tomorrow night at 7 p.m. The game will air live on the SEC Network and fans can also listen live on WNML AM 990.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gabriel, Erin (18-5)
L: M. Martin (11-2)
Batting:
2B: E. Carosone 1
HR: K. Cooper 1
RBI: K. Cooper 1
Base Running:
RUNS: K. Cooper 1
Batting:
2B: Vines, Brooke 1 ; Geathers, Shaliyah 1
RBI: Leach, Aubrey 1 ; Vines, Brooke 2 ; Overstreet, Lexi 2 ; Geathers, Shaliyah 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Leach, Aubrey 2 ; Vines, Brooke 1 ; Gregg, Meghan 1 ; Geer, Megan 1 ; Overstreet, Lexi 1 ; Gaffin, Rainey 1 ; Aucoin, Gretchen 2 ; McSwain, Scarlet 1 ; Geathers, Shaliyah 2
