WASHINGTON, DC – No. 8 Tennessee used a nine-run second inning to defeat Howard 11-4 on Monday night at the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.
 
UT (19-4) has won 11 consecutive games and outscored its opponents 58-5 over the last seven.
 
Junior Sophia Nugent went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Giulia Koutsoyanopulos finished 2-for-3, scored twice and had a team-high three RBIs.
 
Laura Mealer and McKenna Gibson finished with two hits apiece. Mealer drove in two RBIs and scored one run, while Koutsoyanopulos had an RBI and a run scored.
 
Kiki Milloy, Gabby and Alannah Leach and Destiny Rodriguez picked up Tennessee’s remaining hits.
 
Charli Orsini got the start for the Lady Vols in the circle and allowed four runs on four hits before giving way to Payton Gottshall. The graduate finished the game, tossing six innings, striking out seven, walking one and scattering three hits.
 
She earned the victory and is now 8-2 on the year.
 
Howard (16-6) started Amelia Weber who lasted 1.2 innings. She surrendered 10 runs on eight hits and took the loss – falling to 7-3. Mia Gonzales took over and kept UT off the board until the seventh inning.
 
She scattered six hits but allowed just one run with two walks and three strikeouts over 5.1 innings of work.
 
Tennessee scored early in the first courtesy of a Gibson single before exploding for nine runs on six hits.
 
Howard responded in the home half of the frame with four runs on four hits and an error.
 
The bats for both teams fell silent after the second before the Lady Vols added a final run in the seventh.
 
UP NEXT
Tennessee returns home on March 15-17 as it opens SEC play against No. 12 Missouri at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.