(Photo Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics)
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — RBI hits by Madison Shipman and Annie Aldrete gave No. 2/3 Tennessee control in the first inning and a three-run surge in the seventh helped the Lady Vols pull away late in a 5-1 win over Oregon State late on Saturday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
Tennessee (11-0) scored two in the first and three in the seventh to remain undefeated on the season. Oregon State (5-11) drew to within 2-1 in the sixth inning on a solo home run by Dani Gilmore.
Megan Geer was outstanding as the leadoff hitter, going 3-for-3 with two runs and a walk. Aldrete was 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run. Shipman, Cheyanne Tarango, Taylor Koenig and Hannah Akamine each drove in a run.
Erin Gabriel (3-0) was sharp in the circle, starting and throwing 4.2 scoreless frames of two-hit ball while racking up seven strikeouts. Ellen Renfroe earned the save after striking out five and allowing one earned run in 2.1 relief innings.
Melanie Dembinski (0-2) took the loss and allowed two runs in 1.2 frames, starting the game, exiting in the second inning and re-entering later in the seventh. Amanda Najdek tossed 5.1 reliefe frames, giving up three runs. Sarah Shadinger walked two batters in the seventh without recording an out.
UT jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Geer opened the game with a double to right field and Shipman drove her in with an RBI double down the right field line. Two batters later, Aldrete ripped an RBI single up the middle to plate Shipman.
Tennessee left a pair stranded in the second, Aldrete on second base in the third and two on in the fourth inning.
Renfroe entered in relief in the bottom of the fifth and in the bottom of the sixth, Gilmore slugged a one-out solo homer to center to pull Oregon State to within 2-1.
Tennessee answered in the top of the seventh. With one out and the bases loaded, Tarango drew a 3-2 walk to plate Geer. Koenig followed with a walk on a full count to score Melissa Davin. Two batters later, Akamine recorded a bases-loaded walk with two outs to stretch UT’s lead to 5-1.
Renfroe induced a pop up and had a pair of strikeouts to close out the game.
