KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The fourth-ranked Lady Vols got a dominant pitching performance from Payton Gottshall Friday night as they knocked off No. 7 LSU, 3-0, to open the three-game series at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

Tennessee (33-7, 13-3 SEC) did not need to score a lot of runs with Gottshall in the circle for game one as the graduate turned in a masterful performance. She carried a perfect game into the seventh inning before LSU broke it up with a pair of singles.

The right-hander tossed 6.1 innings with three strikeouts en route to her 16th victory of the season.

It was a slow start to the game, with both pitchers limiting the opposing batters. LSU (34-9, 10-9 SEC) started Sydney Berzon in the circle who held the Lady Vols hitless until the fourth.

Berzon pitched a complete game, allowing three runs – all unearned – on three hits, a walk and four strikeouts. The sophomore suffered the loss and is 15-5 on the year.

A pair of errors in the fourth inning led to two Tennessee runs before Kiki Milloy knocked a single through the left side of the infield to score the Lady Vols’ third run of the inning and the ballgame.

The pitcher’s dual continued as both Gottshall and Berzon worked 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth.

After retiring the first batter she faced in the seventh, LSU finally got to Gottshall with a slap hit over the shortstop, followed by a single through the right side of the infield.

That was the end of the road for Gottshall as Karlyn Pickens entered out of the bullpen. The sophomore struck out both of the batters she faced to close out the win and earn her first save of the season.

Milloy, Rylie West and Sophia Nugent collected Tennessee’s three hits on the night, while Ciara Briggs and Ali Newland had LSU’s base knocks.

STAT OF THE DAY
With Tennessee’s shutout win against LSU Friday night, it has now won 20 of its last 21 games at Sherri Parker Lee.

UP NEXT
The Lady Vols and Tigers will play game two of the series on Saturday with first pitch set for noon ET on ESPN2.