Tennessee softball is just a win away from earning a spot in the super regionals as one of the final 16 teams remaining.
The Lady Vols downed Ohio State 4-2 on Saturday afternoon to win their second game of the Knoxville Regional.
No. 7 overall seed Tennessee now will have two chances to beat the same team on Sunday. A win pushes it to the super regional stage which would be hosted in Knoxville.
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The Lady Vols are matched up with No. 10 overall seed LSU, but the Tigers dropped their first game of the Baton Rouge Regional and will now be tasked with winning four-straight to survive.
Other teams in LSU's regional that could meet Tennessee in Knoxville are Nebraska, UConn and Southeastern Louisiana.
The Lady Vols have already taken down Miami (OH) in dominant fashion on Friday. The Redhawks now face North Carolina in an elimination game this afternoon. Winner plays the Buckeyes in an elimination game with that winner playing Tennessee on Sunday.
For the second-straight game of the regional, Karlyn Pickens got the ball for Tennessee. She threw the entire game while allowing only five hits, one earned run (two total) and striking out 10 batters.
At the plate, it was four separate players who notched RBI. The swings were from Taylor Pannell, Sophia Nugent, Laura Mealer and Gabby Leach.
WHAT HAPPENED
On brand, Pickens didn't have trouble in the first. She sat down Ohio State in order to hand the bats to the Lady Vols.
After Kinsey Fiedler got on base and moved to third with one out, Pannell flew out. It was deep enough, though, to score Fiedler who used an impressive slide to beat the throw.
Nugent nearly hit a home run in the following at-bat, but it was deemed foul. This left the lead at 1-0 through one inning.
In the top of the second, Pickens allowed two to reach. A double play got her out of the inning, though. The next threat from either team was the bottom of the third. Tennessee loaded the bases with two outs, but couldn't push across a run.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Vols added to their lead. After walking, moving to second on a wild pitch and third on a ground out, Mealer scored on a Leach single up the middle.
This made it a 2-0 advantage for Tennessee after four frames.
In the bottom of the fifth, a sac-fly off the bat of Nugent was enough to push across another run of insurance. Mealer singled with two down and a runner on third to make it a 4-0 game through five innings.
With two outs in the sixth, Ohio State put a pair in scoring position. A full-count knock pushed across the Buckeyes' first two runs of the game. Only the first was earned with the second coming on an error from the catcher, Nugent.
In the seventh, after recording one out, a pop up to left field dropped for a double due to miscommunication. That was all Ohio State managed, though.
UP NEXT
Below is the full schedule for the remainder of the Knoxville Regional.
Saturday, May 17
2:30 p.m. – Game 4 (North Carolina vs. Miami (OH)
5:00 p.m. – Game 5 (Ohio State vs. winner of Game 4)
Sunday, May 18
Gates open at 11:00 a.m.
12:00 p.m. – Game 6 (Tennessee vs. winner of Game 5)
2:30 p.m. – Game 7 (if necessary, rematch of Game 6)
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