Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — No. 10 Tennessee beat its second ranked team on Thursday, handing No. 8 Florida State a 4-1 loss in its second game at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic at Big League Dreams Park.
Earlier in the day, Tennessee (11-0) beat No. 23 Notre Dame, 8-4, to open action on the West Coast. Erin Gabriel tossed a complete-game to move to 4-0 on the season. Gabriel fanned six batters, allowing one walk and five hits in spinning her seventh career complete game.
Tennessee scored runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings to post its first win over a top-10 foe this season. Last season, the Lady Vols beat top-10 teams on six occasions on the way to the Super Regionals.
Florida State (7-4) scored its lone run in the seventh. FSU ace Lacey Waldrop took the loss after allowing one run over 3.1 innings. Bailey Schinella tossed the remaining 3.2 frames with three runs allowed. Seminole pitchers combined to walk seven UT hitters.
Three of Tennessee’s four runs came across the plate without a hit. UT left nine runners on base and FSU stranded four.
The Lady Vols got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning. Florida State walked four-consecutive Tennessee hitters: Rainey Gaffin, Annie Aldrete and Taylor Koenig before Megan Geer’s bases-loaded walk brought home Gaffin for a 1-0 lead.
In the fifth, Annie Aldrete hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Meghan Gregg and push UT’s lead to 2-0.
In the sixth, Lexi Overstreet’s short single back to the pitcher brought home Geer for a 3-0 Tennessee lead.
The fourth run scored on a groundout double play as Geer’s hot shot to third base brought home Gaffin for the 4-0 advantage.
The Seminoles mustered one run in the bottom of the seventh on a pair of hits.
The Seminoles have faced seven Top-20 teams in their first 11 games.
Tennessee returns to action against No. 20 California on Friday at 12:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. ET
