Powerful Bats Lead #17 Lady Vols Past BYU, UC Davis

Thursday, February 24

Cathedral City, Calif.

4:00 PM

University of Tennessee

7-3

BYU

9-2

BYU

Tennessee

Photo by: Forest Jersey/Tennessee Athletics

February 25, 2022 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score Updated Season Stats

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -- The No. 17 Tennessee softball team put up double-digit runs in back-to-back wins over BYU and UC Davis to open the week strong at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Lady Vols defeated the Cougars, 10-3, before run-ruling the Aggies, 11-0, in six innings Thursday night at the Big League Dreams Yankee Stadium field in Cathedral City, California.

Senior outfielder Kaitlin Parsons and sophomore infielder Zaida Puni—both California natives—led the Big Orange at the plate with four hits each between the two contests. Parsons was 4-for-6 on the day with a double and four RBIs, while Puni went 4-for-7, drove in a team-high six runs and notched her first home run in a Lady Vol uniform.

Junior center fielder Kiki Milloy stuffed the stat sheet for the Lady Volunteers on Thursday. The Woodinville, Washington, native scored four runs, walked twice, logged three HBPs, stole three bases and ended the UC Davis game with a grand slam for her fourth home run of the season.

Tennessee's veteran pitching duo of Ashley Rogers and Erin Edmoundson combined for 17 strikeouts and posted UT's second shutout of the season in the nightcap vs. UC Davis. The tandem limited opposing batters to a .111 average at the dish, while Tennessee's offense hit .340 as a team on Thursday.

GAME 1 - No. 17 Tennessee 10, BYU 3
The Lady Vols jumped on BYU early with six runs in the first and piled more on late to seal a 10-3 victory over the Cougars to open the tournament. Rogers returned to the circle and went the distance for Tennessee, throwing 7.0 innings with eight strikeouts and three earned runs.

Right fielder Amanda Ayala provided the spark for UT offensively with her first home run of the 2022 campaign in the bottom of the first. The Bloomfield, New Jersey, native launched a two-run jack to left center that brought herself and Milloy across home plate and put the Lady Vols ahead 2-0 after two plate appearances.

With no outs in the first and the bases loaded, Puni doubled Tennessee's advantage with a two-RBI single to center field. The Lady Vols tacked on two more in the first when Parsons roped a two-RBI double to right center, and UT headed to the second with 6-0 advantage over the Cougars.

Parsons' savvy baserunning in the bottom of the third provided Tennessee's seventh run of the game. After knocking her second hit of the game with a single to left, the Long Beach product swiped second and moved to third on a throwing error by the BYU catcher. When freshman Lady Vol Lair Beautae hit a hard grounder to shortstop, Parsons snuck home and slid in safely to make it a 7-0 lead through three.

BYU (9-2) showed signs of life in the top of the fourth, scoring three runs on a pair of homers to left field. Huntyr Ava lifted a solo shot before Macy Simmons' two-run blast cut the Tennessee lead to four.

Puni secured three insurance runs for Tennessee in the bottom of the sixth with her second career home run and first as a Lady Vol, launching a three-run moon shot over the fence in left to put the Big Orange ahead 10-3.

Rogers retired the side in order in the top of the seventh to ice the weekend opener, notching back-to-back strikeouts on curveballs to end the game and seal the Tennessee victory.

GAME 2 - No. 17 Tennessee 11, UC Davis 0
Tennessee piled on eight runs in the bottom of the sixth, punctuated by a Milloy walk-off grand slam, on its way to an 11-0 run-rule victory over UC Davis on Thursday.

Edmoundson started in the circle and earned her fourth win of the season, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and one walk. Rogers was tabbed with her second save of the year, coming on for the final two frames and retiring six consecutive UC Davis batters while collecting five strikeouts.

The Lady Vols broke up a scoreless game in the bottom of the third when Milloy came home on a wild pitch by UCD freshman pitcher Mia Hildebrand. The next inning, Milloy notched her first RBI of the day when an errant pitch hit her left shoulder with the bases loaded. Pinch runner Anna Fox came home on the play to make it a 2-0 Tennessee lead through four.

Parsons tacked on another run for the Big Orange in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single through the left side, plating Ivy Davis from third base.

With the sun going down and temperatures dropping, the Lady Vol bats heated up and produced eight runs in the bottom of the sixth to force a run-rule victory. Freshman designated player McKenna Gibson and senior first baseman Ashley Morgan got the scoring started with RBI singles to right field, Puni popped a sac fly to center, and Parsons brought a run in on a single through the middle to put the Big Orange ahead 7-0. After Beautae walked to load the bases, Milloy sent the first pitch she saw high and deep to left field to cement the night's final score of 11-0.

UP NEXT: The Lady Vols play two more on Friday in Cathedral City, facing UC San Diego at 1:00 p.m. ET before squaring off against Oregon State at 6:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed online via FloSoftball, with a free online radio broadcast available at UTSports.com.

For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee softball, follow @Vol_Softball on Twitter and Instagram.