Friday, April 8
Knoxville, Tenn.
5:00 PM
Texas A&M
7
at
8
Tennessee
Photo by: Russell James/Texas A&M Athletics
No. 10 Texas A&M falls to No. 17 Tennessee, 8-7
Apr 08, 2016 | Softball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 10 Texas A&M softball fell to No. 17 Tennessee, 8-7, Friday at the Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
A&M (31-7, 5-5 SEC) opened the scoring in the third as sophomore Ashley Walters drove in two on an RBI single. Freshman Keeli Milligan got the first hit of the game on an infield single to short and advanced to third on a freshman Kaitlyn Alderink single up the middle.
Senior Cali Lanphear was walked intentionally to load the bases, before Walters punched a 3-2 pitch through the hole into left, plating Milligan and Alderink. Walters has now driven in 14 runs in her last five games.
Tennessee (29-10, 8-5 SEC) evened the game in the fourth, scoring two runs on three hits. After a leadoff walk from Lexi Overstreet and a double to right center from Meghan Gregg, Rainey Gaffin knocked a single into right, scoring both runners. Sophomore Kayla Ober came into relief for freshman Samantha Show and forced a strikeout, pop fly and a fielder's choice to get out of the jam.
The Volunteers then tacked on five runs in the fifth to take a 7-2 lead. Overstreet belted a two-run homer to centerfield, before Shaliyah Geather hit a two-out single up the middle, scoring two. Brooke Vines capped off the inning with an RBI infield single.
A&M got a run back in the sixth on a freshman Riley Sartain RBI single. Walters led the inning off with a single to left and was pinch ran for by senior Alex Masek. Sophomore Kristen Cuyos singled to center and moved into scoring position on a junior April Ryan groundout. Sartain recorded her 15th RBI of the season, plating Masek with a single up the middle.
Tennessee extended its lead back to five in the sixth on a Gretchen Aucoin sacrifice fly to left.
The Aggies rallied in the seventh scoring four runs on four hits. Sophomore Tori Vidales hit a leadoff double down the left field line, before Walters recorded her third hit of the game. A&M loaded the bases with one out as Cuyos reached base on a fielding error.
Ryan cleared the bases with a triple to cut the lead to 8-6. Show roped a two-out single to left center to drive in Ryan, but was thrown out trying to extend it to a double to end the game.
Ober was saddled with the loss to move to 0-1 on the year while Gaffin moved to 8-3 on the season with the win.
A&M and the Volunteers return to action Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. The contest can be seen on ESPNU and the Watch ESPN app and can be heard locally on KWBC 1550 AM or online at www.RadioAggieland.com.
To learn more about Texas A&M softball, log on to 12thMan.com or follow @AggieSoftball on Twitter.
A&M (31-7, 5-5 SEC) opened the scoring in the third as sophomore Ashley Walters drove in two on an RBI single. Freshman Keeli Milligan got the first hit of the game on an infield single to short and advanced to third on a freshman Kaitlyn Alderink single up the middle.
Senior Cali Lanphear was walked intentionally to load the bases, before Walters punched a 3-2 pitch through the hole into left, plating Milligan and Alderink. Walters has now driven in 14 runs in her last five games.
Tennessee (29-10, 8-5 SEC) evened the game in the fourth, scoring two runs on three hits. After a leadoff walk from Lexi Overstreet and a double to right center from Meghan Gregg, Rainey Gaffin knocked a single into right, scoring both runners. Sophomore Kayla Ober came into relief for freshman Samantha Show and forced a strikeout, pop fly and a fielder's choice to get out of the jam.
The Volunteers then tacked on five runs in the fifth to take a 7-2 lead. Overstreet belted a two-run homer to centerfield, before Shaliyah Geather hit a two-out single up the middle, scoring two. Brooke Vines capped off the inning with an RBI infield single.
A&M got a run back in the sixth on a freshman Riley Sartain RBI single. Walters led the inning off with a single to left and was pinch ran for by senior Alex Masek. Sophomore Kristen Cuyos singled to center and moved into scoring position on a junior April Ryan groundout. Sartain recorded her 15th RBI of the season, plating Masek with a single up the middle.
Tennessee extended its lead back to five in the sixth on a Gretchen Aucoin sacrifice fly to left.
The Aggies rallied in the seventh scoring four runs on four hits. Sophomore Tori Vidales hit a leadoff double down the left field line, before Walters recorded her third hit of the game. A&M loaded the bases with one out as Cuyos reached base on a fielding error.
Ryan cleared the bases with a triple to cut the lead to 8-6. Show roped a two-out single to left center to drive in Ryan, but was thrown out trying to extend it to a double to end the game.
Ober was saddled with the loss to move to 0-1 on the year while Gaffin moved to 8-3 on the season with the win.
A&M and the Volunteers return to action Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. The contest can be seen on ESPNU and the Watch ESPN app and can be heard locally on KWBC 1550 AM or online at www.RadioAggieland.com.
To learn more about Texas A&M softball, log on to 12thMan.com or follow @AggieSoftball on Twitter.
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
C/OF
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ Softball
P/OF
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P/UT
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
C
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