Lady Vols Even The Series In Starkville (UT Athletics)
The fourth-ranked Lady Vols evened their series against No. 16 Mississippi State on Saturday at Nusz Park, knocking off the Bulldogs 6-1.
Tennessee (31-7, 11-3 SEC) got strong pitching in the circle from graduate Payton Gottshall and strung 11 hits together throughout the game.
Gottshall tossed a complete game, scattering three hits and allowing one run with no walks and seven punchouts.
The right-hander was in control all day as she recorded four 1-2-3 innings en route to her 14th victory of the season.
Sophia Nugent and
McKenna Gibson supplied the power for the Lady Vols, as each player hit a two-run home run – Nugent in the first inning and Gibson in the seventh. Gibson finished the day 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
Nugent was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Graduate
Kiki Milloy found her groove again, going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs, while
Rylie West and
Taylor Pannell both finished with two hits on Saturday.
The Lady Vols plated three runs in the first inning as West knocked an RBI double off the wall to score Gibson before Nugent belted her eighth home run of the season with the following at-bat.
Mississippi State (29-11, 9-8 SEC) broke through on the scoreboard in the fourth as Jessie Blaine hit a solo home run to draw within two runs.
Tennessee immediately responded with a run in the fifth as senior
Zaida Puni pulled an RBI single through the left side of the infield.
Gibson's two-run home run in the seventh punctuated the Lady Vols' win.
Josey Marron got the start for the Bulldogs in the circle, allowing six runs – five earned – on 10 hits. She walked two and notched six strikeouts as she suffered the loss – her sixth this season.
Marron faced two batters in the seventh before being lifted for Delainey Everett. She finished out the frame, giving up just one hit.
UP NEXT
Tennessee and Mississippi State close out the three-game series on Sunday with a rubber-match first pitch time set for 1 p.m. ET.