Gregg's Four RBIs Power UT Past UC Santa Barbara

Thursday, February 23

Cathedral City, Calif.

11:00 PM

University of Tennessee

12-0

UC Santa Barbara

3-7

UC Santa Barbara

Tennessee

February 24, 2017 | Softball

Box Score

Feb. 23, 2017

Box Score

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calf. -- Meghan Gregg homered and drove in four runs to power No. 15/13 Tennessee to an 8-3 win over UC Santa Barbara to cap a 2-0 day on Thursday at the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City, Calif.

The Volunteers followed their impressive win over No. 4/5 Oklahoma with another over the Gauchos to improve to 12-0 on the year, their best start since going 14-0 to begin the 2014 season. Gregg's four RBIs marked the third time already this season that she has had three or more in a game. Matty Moss also had a solid performance in the circle, tossing a complete game while setting a new career high with 10 strikeouts.

Alyssa Diaz did all of the damage for UCSB (3-7), hitting a pair of home runs in her first two at bats. She put the Vols in an early hole with a two-run homer that barely cleared the left-field fence in the top of the first and homered again in the third to put the Gauchos ahead, 3-2.

After Diaz' first home run, UT quickly responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the first, with Brooke Vines driving in a run on an RBI groundout and Gregg following with a bomb to right center to tie things up at two.

An RBI single from Taylor Rowland tied the game at three in third, scoring Megan Geer from second on the play after she reached on a two-out single to center field.

The Big Orange took the lead for good with two runs in the fourth inning. Pinch hitter Abby Lockman singled to left field to score Sheridan Allen, and an errant throw by the Gauchos' left fielder allowed CJ McClain to score on the play as well, giving the Vols a 5-3 advantage.

Gregg provided some insurance for UT with a three-run double in the bottom of the sixth to cap a two-out rally. After a pair quick outs, UC Santa Barbara pitcher Felisha Noriega walked three consecutive batters to give the dangerous Gregg a chance with the bases loaded. She delivered, smoking a 0-1 pitch to the left-center field fence to clear the bases and give the Vols a five-run lead heading into the seventh.

Moss struck out the side to end the game and post a new single-game career high with 10 strikeouts while improving to 6-0 on the year. Noriega was stuck with the loss for the Gauchos despite recording six strikeouts. She gave up all eight runs in a complete-game effort to fall to 0-3.

GREGG GETTING IT DOWN: To the surprise of very few, Vols' junior shortstop Meghan Gregg had another big performance in Thursday's win. The Georgia native went 2-for-4 with her third homer of the year while also scoring a run and driving in four. With hits in both games today, Gregg has tied her career-long hit streak of nine games. She also leads Tennessee with 22 RBIs and has driven in at least one run in eight of the team's 12 games this season.

MOSS MOWING `EM DOWN: Despite giving up two early home runs, Matty Moss was able to improve to 6-0 on the year and added to her impressive strikeout total with 10 more on Thursday, setting a new career best. The South Carolina native leads the team with 42 total strikeouts in 34.0 innings pitched this season.

TWO TOUGH: Tennessee was clutch when batting with two outs in Thursday night, going 5-for-11 as a team while scoring five of their eight runs with two away.

UP NEXT: The Vols continue play at the Mary Nutter Classic with two a doubleheader tomorrow against Nebraska and No. 17/17 Utah. First pitch against the Cornhuskers is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. Both games will be streamed live on FloSoftball.com.