STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 15 Tennessee softball team dropped its doubleheader at Mississippi State Wednesday, falling in game one, 2-1, and in game two, 6-2, at Nusz Park.

Tennessee (38-10, 11-9 SEC) played the midweek conference doubleheader as a result of a COVID-19 pause earlier this season.

Ashley Rogers pitched game one for the Lady Vols, allowing two runs on four hits, striking out nine and tossing her 19th complete game of the season. The Athens, Tennessee, native is now 22-7 on the year after suffering the loss.

In game two, Callie Turner took the ball and pitched three innings, surrendering five runs on three hits and struck out one. Turner suffered just her second loss of the season and stands at 10-2 in 2021.

Mississippi State (29-22, 5-15 SEC) received a pair of solid pitching performances from Emily Williams and Annie Willis. Williams started in the circle for game one, tossing a complete game and allowing just one run on six hits and striking out seven.

Willis got the start in game two and pitched four innings, surrendering two runs on five hits. Alyssa Loza came on in relief and picked up the save as she tossed three innings and notched a pair of strikeouts.

GAME ONE: Tennessee 1, Mississippi State 2
A scoreless game through four innings was ended in the bottom of the fifth when MSU plated two runs on a hit. The Bulldogs’ Montana Davidson struck out, but reached base on a wild pitch and scored later on in the inning off a Carter Spexarth double that also pushed Fa Leilua across the plate for MSU’s second and game-winning run.

In the top of the seventh, Tennessee scored once on two hits as Amanda Ayala doubled to center field to score Anna Fox to give the game its final margin at, 2-1.

GAME TWO: Tennessee 2, Mississippi State 6
MSU scored all six of its runs in the bottom of the first as the Bulldogs used four hits and a pair of Tennessee errors to jump out to the early lead.

Leilua hit a two-run home run to open the scoring and jump start MSU’s big inning.

The Lady Vols punched back in the second and third, scratching across one run in both innings. Kiki Milloy reached on a leadoff single to begin the second, before stealing second base and advancing to third on a error. She was brought home on a sacrifice fly from Madison Webber for UT’s first run in game two.

In the third, Ayala singled and advanced to second on an error to set up Tennessee’s next score. Ashley Morgan then pushed Ayala across the plate with a RBI double to right.

UP NEXT
Tennessee has a quick turnaround at it welcomes Missouri to Sherri Parker Lee Stadium for the final regular season series. The series runs May 7-9 with first pitch Friday coming at 6 p.m. ET.

Box Score (Game One) | Box Score (Game Two) | Overall Stats | SEC Stats

-UT Athletics