With the bats struggling to produce for Tennessee softball, it used an unlikely hero after a fortunate turn of events to grab the lead from Alabama in the first game of the Knoxville Super Regional.

While the Lady Vols trailed by a pair of runs in the fifth, an error and timely home run from Laura Mealer was pivotal in the 3-2 win.

3-seed Tennessee had produced just one hit headed into the inning and was held scoreless. Rylie West drew a lead-off walk to put an early runner on base, though. She was ultimately sent home after Gabby Leach reached on an error with two-outs and West beat the throw home and scored from second.

Mealer, the team's nine-hole hitter who's typically known for her defense, sent a shot to left-center that gifted the Lady Vols a 3-2 lead that it never relinquished.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

On the mound, Karlyn Pickens got the start and went five full frames before being pulled in the sixth. She threw 101 pitches while getting pinned with one earned run on four hits, a walk, hit by pitch and seven strikeouts.

This made way for Payton Gottshall to enter and close things out over the 14-seed Tide. She pitched a scoreless final two innings to shut things down.

Combined, the Lady Vols allowed six hits and committed two errors but held Alabama to two runs. These came in the first and second innings. Just one was earned as the other came due to an error in left field by West in the first.

Next, Tennessee will look for a series win and punch its ticket to the Women's College World Series for the second-straight season. It would be the ninth appearance in school history.

Game two against Alabama is set for 3 p.m. ET in Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville.

–––––

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.

–––––