The Walk-Off: No. 9 Tennessee, No. 8 Washington pick up ranked run-rule wins

By
Brady Vernon
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Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics

Top 25 Matchups

No. 9 Tennessee 9, No. 11 Missouri 0 (F/5)

The Lady Vols were up 7-0 before Laurin Krings recorded the second out of the first inning. Giulia Koutsoyanopulos hit a grand slam to blow things open. Kiki Milloy had two doubles in the first inning alone. Freshman shortstop Bella Faw came into the game hitting under .100 and sent out her first career home run.

Karlyn Pickens had a pitcher’s dream throwing with that much early run support. She allowed two hits and struck out five in the five-inning shutout.

No. 6 Georgia 4, No. 17 Alabama 2

The Bulldogs struggled to get going offensively against Kayla Beaver. Georgia even tried playing small ball, but that wasn’t quite working either. Ellie Armistead, normally known for her defense, said she’d go long with two outs. Her three-run homer put Georgia up for good.

Georgia used all three of its main arms to pick up the win. Madison Kerpics earned the win, Shelby Walters had two-plus innings of relief and Lilli Backes picked up the save. The Tide’s two runs came via solo home runs, while going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

No. 5 Stanford 7, No. 19 Cal 0

The Cardinal really needed a big rebound after dropping a midweek game against Sacramento State. NiJaree Canady left no doubts. The Bears had zero answers against the Stanford ace. She struck out 11 and only allowed two hits in the complete game shutout.

Johnna Schroeder opened the scoring with a pinch-hit double in the second inning. Jade Berry widen the gap in the sixth with her bases-clearing double to be the team’s RBI leader.

No. 8 Washington 13, No. 21 Arizona 2

Jillian Celis and Alana Johnson had themselves a day. The two combined to go 7-for-7 with four home runs and seven RBIs as the two had back-to-back home runs in back-to-back innings. Ruby Meylan threw all six innings, striking out 10 in the win.

Upsets and Close Calls

No. 23 Boston 5, Minnesota 4

After Alana Vawter walked off the Terriers on Thursday, they bounced back to beat Minnesota. The Gophers pushed out the starter Kasey Ricard but that doesn’t mean much for the three-deep Boston staff. Allison Boaz went 6.1 innings to calm things down and only allowed two more runs. She also got the dangerous Jess Oakland to ground out with the tying run at second in the seventh.

Boston collected 12 hits in the win. Boaz had three of them including a RBI single. The Terriers scored four in the sixth inning to propel themselves to the win.

Kansas 3, No. 14 Baylor 2

The Jayhawks already took down one ranked team from Texas, so why not another one? Kasey Hamilton had kept the Bears hitless through four innings and her offense finally gave her the lead in the pitcher’s duel. Baylor answered back with three straight two-out singles to break the no-hitter and the shutout. Campbell Bagshaw had the last laugh with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to give the Jayhawks the lead right back for the eventual win.

Softball Around America

No. 24 Texas State 8, JMU 4

The Bobcats also took their Sun Belt opener. The two teams traded first-inning runs and stayed in a standstill for a few innings. Texas State bats kept finding grass. The Bobcats put together a six-run in the fourth. Five runs came with two outs and Texas State only had singles and walks in the frame.

Texas State did take Jessica Mullins out to open the fifth with a seven-run lead to help preserve her as much as they can this season. However, the Dukes were rallying in the sixth and scored three runs. Mullins reentered the game and got the final four outs.

NC State 1, Northwestern 0 

The Lindsay Leftwich reclamation project keeps finding quality wins. The Wolfpack keeps getting quality efforts from their sophomore batter. Catcher Amanda Hasler hit a solo home run off of Ashley Miller, the lone hit she allowed. Madison Inscoe picked up the win after a complete game with eight strikeouts and surrendering only three hits.

Players of the Day

Cori McMillan, Virginia Tech

Hard to pick one player from Virginia Tech’s 18-0 win over but McMillan went 3-for-3 with two home runs, one a grand slam, driving in six runs.

Tiare Jennings, Oklahoma

The RBI queen is in the thick of the Player of the Year race. She benefitted from Oklahoma pulling things open against Texas Tech in the seventh on the way to a 14-0 win. Jennings also went 3-for-3 with two homers and six RBIs.

Madison Dobbins and Emma Minghini, Georgia Tech

This pairing was similar to Celis and Johnson. Each hit two home runs and combined to drive in all seven runs. However, these meant a little more. Dobbins hit a two-run homer in the seventh to tie the game. Minghini hit one with two outs to walk-off the 7-5 win over Notre Dame as the Yellow Jackets start ACC play 7-0.

The entire Oregon offense

The Ducks beat Utah 20-3 without a single home run. Each starter had a hit. Three different players had three RBIs.

The Rain

Weather knocked out Louisiana-South Alabama to finish Saturday and be a tripleheader. Texas A&M-Mississippi State and Auburn-Arkansas got pushed into a doubleheader as well. As well as countless others

Plays of the Day

Milestone Moments

 

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