Game Recap: Softball | May 09, 2024
AUBURN, Ala. – It was another pitcher’s duel between No. 2 Tennessee and No. 10 LSU in the quarterfinals of the SEC Softball Tournament, with the Tigers emerging with a 2-1 win.
Tennessee (40-10) managed five hits – all singles – off LSU starter Kelley Lynch.
Sophia Nugent drove in UT’s run with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. Laura Mealer, Giulia Koutsoyanopulos, Zaida Puni and Rylie West had the Lady Vols’ other hits in the contest.
LSU (40-14) pushed across one run in the first off the bat of Ali Newland – knocking an RBI single through the middle of the diamond. Newland finished the night 2-for-3.
In the fifth, the Tigers scratched across their second run of the game on a Taylor Pleasants RBI single to center.
Lynch pitched 4.2 innings for LSU, allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks. The right-hander was lifted in the fifth for Sydney Berzon. Lynch earned the win – her eighth of the season.
Berzon closed out the quarterfinal, pitching 2.1 frames with one hit and three strikeouts and picking up her fourth save.
Karlyn Pickens started in the circle for Tennessee, tossing 3.1 before being lifted for Payton Gottshall with one away in the fourth. She returned to the circle in the sixth inning, finishing the night.
Her final line was five innings pitched with one run allowed on four hits, three walks and four strikeouts. Pickens suffered the loss – her sixth in 2024.
Gottshall threw two innings in relief, giving up one run on three hits with a walk and a strikeout.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will learn its NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday, May 12 when the 64-team bracket is revealed at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
