COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 16th-ranked Tennessee softball team took down South Carolina, 4-2, Monday night at the Carolina Softball Stadium, earning its second SEC series win of the season.
Tennessee (33-7, 6-6 SEC) opened the scoring in the first inning thanks to a passed ball that scored Cailin Hannon from third. UT added to its lead in the third thanks to a two-out Kiki Milloy double to right center that drove home Hannon from second.
In the fourth, Chelsea Seggern doubled the lead as she smacked her second home run of the weekend over the wall in center for a two-run shot that gave the Lady Vols a 4-0 lead.
South Carolina (23-17, 2-13 SEC) responded in the bottom of the fourth as it put two runners on with nobody out. Ashley Rogers fanned the next two batters, but with two away and runners on first and second, a fielding error allowed USC to score and cut into Tennessee’s lead.
The score remained 3-1 in the Lady Vols favor until the bottom of the seventh when South Carolina made a late push for the win.
Rogers got the first out in the seventh as she recorded her 10th strikeout of the game, but a Kenzi Maguire single in the next at-bat to center put one on for Mackenzie Boesel. The Gamecock second baseman laced a single down the left field line, which was booted in the outfield, and allowed Maguire to come around and score on the play.
With the score 4-2 and Boesel standing on third as a result of the booted ball, Rogers got the next batter to pop out but hit the following hitter to place runners on first and third. The Gamecock’s Jordan Fabian stepped to the plate, representing the winning run.
After running the count to 2-2, Rogers got Fabian to fly out to left to close out the Lady Vol win.
Rogers’ final stat line showed the Alcoa native tossing another complete-game, allowing two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out 10. She picked up her 19th victory of the year and fifth SEC win this season.
For South Carolina, Kelsey Oh took the loss and falls to 3-7 in 2021.
UP NEXT
The Lady Vols will have a shortened week, before taking on Georgia at home April 23-25 at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
Box Score | Overall Stats | SEC Stats | Series Stats | Video: Ralph Weekly Postgame
-UT Athletics
