Tennessee softball came into the day needing just one win to advance to the Women’s College World Series National Championship Series. They would have to defeat the Texas Longhorns to do so, but the Longhorns took this one 5-2.
Texas would have to see Erin Nuwer to start. She hadn’t thrown in the WCWS and came into the day with a 15-1 record, a 0.99 ERA and a .137 BAA.
Nuwer faced traffic right off in the first inning, with Katie Stewart and Viviana Martinez reaching on back-to-back one-out singles. But she got out unscathed.
Texas started Citlaly Gutierrez. Tennessee saw her on Thursday after knocking out Teagan Kavan. The Lady Vols went down in order on seven pitches, including an Emma Clarke strikeout to end the inning.
After Kaiah Altmeyer reached on an error and advanced to third, Nuwer escaped damage and left her on.
Defense was a little unsharp early on, and in the bottom of the second, Elsa Morrison reached on a Jaycie Nichols error at third. Then Ella Dodge reached on a fielder’s choice. Stewart fielded and threw past second and into the outfield.
That gave Tennessee two on with no outs. Gutierrez kept the ball down and worked Makenzie Butt into a double play to escape trouble.
Sage Mardjetko took the ball to begin the third inning for Tennessee, after Nuwer tossed two innings of scoreless work. Mardjetko recorded her first strikeout of the day, with Stewart going down on four pitches, and went on to retire the side in order.
The game was going at a fast pace, and the defensive miscues continued. Bella Faw led off the bottom of the third and reached on an error at first and came around to third. Then, with two outs and a chance to take the lead, Alannah Leach grounded out to leave another on. Gutierrez spun it well and induced Tennessee groundouts throughout.
Texas struck first in the fourth inning. Reese Atwood took a 68 miles per hour pitch down the middle to straightaway center for a solo home run. The inning didn’t go smoothly for Mardjetko, but she avoided more damage and left two runners on base. She struck out Nichols for the third out.
Gutierrez spun a gem for the Longhorns and made it difficult for the Lady Vols to get the ball up much. She mostly kept the ball down, but in the fourth, Gabby Leach found a pitch to drive for an RBI triple to tie the game at one.
Texas responded in the top of the fifth, as Stewart found another mistake in the zone and drove a solo home run to left field for the 2-1 lead. The Longhorns picked up on Mardjetko and hit her well. Martinez followed with a double to put Texas in scoring position.
After losing Atwood to a walk due to a pitch clock violation, she fell behind and gave up a single to Leighann Goode to load the bases.
Mardjetko just didn’t have the command, and Hannah Wells drove a two-RBI single off the wall in center to put Texas up 4-1. That was the last pitch for Mardjetko, and Nuwer returned. Nuwer gave up a single to load the bases but escaped after Victoria Hunter grounded into a 5-2-3 double play.
Gutierrez gave up a single to Sophia Knight in the bottom of the fifth for Tennessee’s second hit of the day but bounced back with a strikeout of Al. Leach to retire the side.
Nuwer began the sixth with a strikeout of Nichols, but with two outs, the Longhorns reached on back-to-back singles from Stewart and Martinez before getting out of the inning.
Morrison recorded a one-out double to try to engineer some offense in the sixth, but Gutierrez worked another clean inning. Then, Texas kept its foot on the gas with Wells and Altmeyer reaching with one out. Ashton Maloney scored Wells on an RBI groundout to make it 5-1.
The Lady Vols had one more chance to avoid an if-necessary game. Makenzie Butt led off with a single to left for Tennessee’s fourth hit of the game. Then, with one out, Taelyn Holley drew a walk, and Knight followed to reach on an error to load the bases. The Lady Vols were one big swing away from a tie game.
After an Al. Leach out, Clarke kept the game going with an infield RBI single to make it 5-2, Texas. The Longhorns had to go to Teagan Kavan with two outs and the bases loaded to save the game. Kavan would have to face Morrison, and she shut the door with a strikeout to force an if-necessary game.
Gutierrez was fantastic for the Longhorns. She pitched 6.2 innings, giving up only two runs (one earned) on five hits. Texas’ offense recorded 13 hits, which is the most that Tennessee has given up all season.
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