Texas Forces Winner-Take-All With 5-2 Win Over Tennessee
Image: Drew Garrison/Tennessee Athletics
By Aidan Sidoti
OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 2 Texas forced a winner-take-all semifinal on Monday afternoon, knocking off No. 7 Tennessee 5-2 to set up a decisive matchup for a spot in the national championship.
Tennessee had chances but couldn’t push a run across early. The Lady Vols got help from three Texas errors in the first three innings but came up empty each time as right-hander Citlaly Gutierrez worked around the mistakes to keep the game scoreless.
Texas struck first in the fourth when senior catcher Reese Atwood launched a leadoff solo home run to center to put the Longhorns up 1-0. Tennessee answered in the bottom half. After a two-out walk to Ella Dodge, Gabby Leach ripped an RBI triple down the right field line to tie the game 1-1.
The Longhorns took control in the fifth. Katie Stewart opened the inning with a solo shot to left to make it 2-1, and with the bases loaded freshman Hannah Wells doubled off the wall to push the lead to 4-1. Erin Nuwer re-entered and immediately got a 5-2-3 double play to escape without giving up even more damage.
The Lady Vols could never find the big swing. A two-out single from Sophia Knight in the fifth and a one-out double from Elsa Morrison in the sixth both went to waste as Gutierrez continued to successfully navigate traffic.
Texas added insurance in the seventh. Wells reached on an infield single and Kaiah Altmeyer doubled before Ashton Maloney’s RBI fielder’s choice stretched the lead to 5-1.
The Lady Vols made one last push in the bottom of the seventh. Mackenzie Butt singled, Taelyn Holley walked, and back-to-back Texas errors loaded the bases and brought in a run to cut it to 5-2. With the tying run on base, Texas turned to ace Teagan Kavan, who struck out Elsa Morrison to end the game and force the decisive semifinal.
Erin Nuwer threw 4.2 innings, allowing 7 hits and 1 earned run. Sage Mardjetko took the loss after giving up an uncharacteristic 6 hits and 4 earned runs across 2.1 innings. Gutierrez went 6.2 innings for Texas, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits before Kavan recorded the final out.
Tennessee and Texas will meet again in a winner take all semifinal tentatively scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on ESPN.
