Tennessee softball rallies too late, falls to Alabama and ends season in super regional
Tennessee softball's rally was too little, too late on Sunday.
It was a nightmarish start for the No. 3 seed Lady Vols, who struggled offensively the entire NCAA super regional against No. 14 seed Alabama. The Tide took a four-run lead in the top of the first inning before a weather delay prevented Tennessee from responding for three hours.
Tennessee (44-12) fell 4-1 to Alabama (38-18) at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
The Lady Vols logged multiple hits in an inning for the first time all game in the seventh, but their offensive drought didn't end in time to get to Oklahoma City. The SEC regular-season champions saw their season end one win short of a second straight trip to the Women's College World Series.
Three-hour weather delay stops game in first inning
Graduate pitcher Payton Gottshall (20-5) struck out the first two batters to start the game. Then Alabama hit a single and Gottshall hit the next two batters to load the bases.
Alabama sophomore Riley Valentine then squashed Tennessee's strong two-out start with a grand slam to left field that barely cleared the wall – outfielder Rylie West was inches from robbing the home run. Alabama had a quick 4-0 lead.
Gottshall got the third out to end the top of the first inning right before the weather delay was announced. A thunderstorm rolled through Knoxville, which led to a weather delay from 4:18 p.m. to 7:15.
Karlyn Pickens was iron woman for Tennessee softball
Gottshall went three innings before Tennessee coach Karen Weekly sent Karlyn Pickens into the circle to start the fourth. Gottshall finished with four strikeouts, three hits allowed, one walk, two hit by pitch and four earned runs.
Pickens, the SEC Pitcher of the Year, held Alabama scoreless. After throwing 129 pitches in 9⅓ on Saturday, Pickens only allowed two hits. She logged three strikeouts in four innings pitched.
Pickens threw 287 pitches in in 18⅓ innings, recording 20 strikeouts and only allowing 11 hits in three appearances.
Tennessee struggles to get going offensively until it's too late
When the game resumed after the weather delay, Tennessee went three up, three down. Both Kiki Milloy and Zaida Puni struck out swinging and West grounded out to second base.
The third inning was more of the same, but all three batters grounded out to the infield. Tennessee didn't hit a ball into the outfield until Laura Mealer, who hit the game-winning home run Friday, hit a double to right field. Mealer got to third on a ground out, but Milloy struck out swinging to end the third inning and left Mealer stranded.
COACH WEEKLY: How Karen Weekly evolved as coach, learned the griddy and brought Tennessee softball back to top
Tennessee attempted to rally in the seventh. McKenna Gibson got on base with a hit by pitch and then Sophia Nugent and Taylor Pannell followed her with singles – Pannell's a perfect bunt – to bring pinch-runner Katie Taylor home.
Tennessee then got Mealer on base with a fielder's choice, and then Jamison Brockenbrough was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. But the Lady Vols left the bases loaded once again as Milloy grounded out and saw their season end in Knoxville.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee softball rallies too late, falls to Alabama in super regional
