Game Recap: Softball | February 21, 2025
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – The fifth-ranked Lady Vols split their opening two games at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Thursday at Big League Dreams in Cathedral City, California. They dropped a 1-0 decision to No. 19 Oregon in the first game before bouncing back with a 10-0 victory over Oregon State in the second.
Karlyn Pickens was dominant in the circle against Oregon, tossing 7.1 innings and allowing one unearned run on just one hit. The junior recorded 13 strikeouts and walked three but took the loss, dropping to 3-2 on the season.
Freshman Erin Nuwer also shined in the circle against Oregon State, throwing a six-inning complete-game shutout. The right-hander struck out seven, walked two, and allowed two hits en route to her fourth win of the year.
GAME ONE: #5 TENNESSEE 0, #19 OREGON 1
In a classic pitcher’s duel, both teams were hitless through the first three innings before Laura Mealer broke the deadlock with a single up the middle in the fourth. The Lady Vols mounted a threat in the fifth, with back-to-back singles from Kinsey Fiedler and Saviya Morgan followed by a walk to load the bases. However, they were unable to capitalize and left the bases loaded.
Oregon ended Pickens’ no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the sixth and threatened to break the scoreless tie as the runner advanced to third on a passed ball and a wild pitch. With nobody out and a runner on third, Pickens shut down the Ducks, inducing a shallow pop fly to center and back-to-back strikeouts to escape the inning.
Under international tiebreaker rules in the eighth, Oregon’s runner at second advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Tennessee intentionally loaded the bases to set up a force out at home, but the Ducks scored the game’s only run on a passed ball.
GAME TWO: #5 TENNESSEE 10, OREGON STATE 0
After the tough loss, the Lady Vols quickly regrouped, scoring two runs in the first inning against Oregon State. Sophia Nugent provided the big hit with a two-RBI single to left.
Nugent, a Seal Beach, California, native, went 2-for-3 at the plate with four RBIs. Kinsey Fiedler also had two hits and drove in three runs, including an RBI groundout and an RBI single. Freshmen Saviya Morgan, Amayah Doyle, and Emma Clarke all added two hits.
In the fourth inning, Mealer hit her third home run of the season, a two-run shot that brought Tennessee within one run of the run-rule threshold. The Lady Vols added to their lead in the sixth, with Fiedler’s RBI single making it 9-0, followed by a RBI double from Nugent to push the lead to 10.
DUE UP
Tennessee returns to action Friday with two games, beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET against Rutgers, followed by a top-5 matchup with No. 4 UCLA at 6:30 p.m.
