Tennessee softball drops first NCAA Regional final 8-3 vs. Oregon State, forces extra game
Tennessee softball dug itself into a hole early on Sunday against Oregon State and it only got deeper with each inning that passed.
Oregon State got its revenge from Saturday's loss, defeating the Lady Vols 8-3 at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in the first game of the NCAA Regional finals. The Beavers (36-20), who were only able to get two hits off of Ashley Rogers Saturday, got their bats going early and scored off of all three pitchers Tennessee (41-17) sent into the circle. Due to the double-elimination tournament, the two will play again to decide the region's winner.
The game was within reach for Tennessee after a fifth-inning rally, but senior pitcher Mariah Mazon hit a three-run homer in the sixth to answer and put OSU back up by five runs in a hurry. Only three Tennessee batters were struck out, but the Lady Vols struggled to get hits past the infield and had just four hits in the loss.
It took until the fifth inning to figure out Mazon on Saturday and Sunday was the same story for the UT offense. Tennessee didn't get a runner on base until the fifth inning when Kelcy Leach hit a single, followed by Ivy Davis, who was walked. Rylie West finally chipped away at the lead with a double to the centerfield wall, bringing both runners home.
Mazon hit Amanda Ayala with a pitch and then had an eight-pitch battle with Kiki Milloy, who was inches away from hitting a home run. Milloy eventually hit an RBI single and Tennessee went into the sixth inning down 5-3.
Ashley Rogers got the start again and the senior ace began Sunday's game with two strikeouts. But the second inning started going downhill for Rogers, who gave up two doubles and a run. Tennessee coach Karen Weekly made a pitching change after going down 1-0, sending Erin Edmoundson into the circle to end the inning.
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But Tennessee fell even further behind in the third inning when Frankie Hammoude hit a two-run home run to the scoreboard. It was the 27th home run hit off of Edmoundson this season, and the end of the third inning marked the end of her time in the circle.
Ryleigh White has only pitched 9.5% of Tennessee softball's innings this season, but she started her outing strong with back-to-back strikeouts in the fourth inning. The fifth inning spelled trouble for the Tennessee defense, though, which committed two uncharacteristic errors that led to loaded bases and a run. White walked three and wouldn't get out of the inning before the Beavers scored one more time off a fly out to centerfield.
White ended with three hits and five runs allowed, four walks and two strikeouts in four innings.
Cora Hall: Covering UT women's athletics
Twitter | cora.hall@knoxnews.com
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee softball loses first NCAA Regional final vs. Oregon State
