ATHENS, Ga. — Coming off back-to-back series wins in league play, the 11th-ranked Tennessee softball team travels to Athens, Georgia, this weekend to take on the No. 16/15 Bulldogs in a three-game series at Jack Turner Softball Stadium. Friday and Saturday’s games are set for 6 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, with Sunday’s series finale scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch.
The first two games of the weekend set will be broadcasted online via SEC Network+, available at ESPN.com/watch and the ESPN app. Sunday’s series finale will be nationally televised on ESPN2, with Eric Frede (play-by-play) and former Lady Vol All-American Madison Shipman (color analyst) on the call.
A live audio broadcast for all three games featuring voice of the Lady Vol softball team Brian Rice can be streamed at UTSports.com and heard locally in Knoxville on AM 990.
SUNDAY SLUGFEST: Tennessee (25-10, 7-4 SEC) launched a season-high five home runs on its way to a series-clinching 10-1 victory vs. Mississippi State this past Sunday. The five homers were UT’s most since hitting five against Mississippi State on April 19, 2015 and finished one shy of the program record six HRs vs. Virginia Tech on May 17, 2014.
Freshman DP McKenna Gibson celebrated her 19th birthday with her first career grand slam in the bottom of the third inning, while Zaida Puni and Kelcy Leach each posted solo homers in the fifth. Super senior 1B Ashley Morgan had two bombs and ended the game with her second homer of the afternoon in the sixth, crushing a two-run shot to right-center to cement the run-rule victory.
FANTASTIC FRESHMAN: Lady Vol rookie Lair Beautae has adjusted to the college game tremendously. In 11 SEC games, she leads Tennessee in batting average (.389), runs (13) and hits (14). Her 13 runs scored in conference play lead the SEC, while her 14 hits rank fourth in the league.
MASHING IT: The Lady Vols have crushed 57 home runs through 35 games this season, and UT’s 1.63 HRs/game rank fourth in the SEC and 12th in the country. Tennessee has multiple homers in 16 games this season, already matching its total from last year, and UT is 14-2 on the year when hitting two-plus home runs.
ON-BASE MACHINE: Lady Vol junior Kiki Milloy has reached base in 28 consecutive games, a streak that began on Feb. 18 vs. Clemson. It is the third-longest active on-base streak in the country, trailing UNCG’s Delaney Cumbie (31) and San Diego State’s Mac Barbara (29).
HBP UNIT: The Lady Vols lead the SEC with 59 hit by pitch this season. Kiki Milloy and Ashley Morgan lead the squad and rank second in the league with 13 HBP apiece, while Ivy Davis sits eighth in the conference with nine. UT is the only team in the nation with three players sporting nine-plus HBP this season.
NOTING THE DAWGS: Georgia (31-7, 5-4 SEC) enters the weekend on a two-game losing skid, dropping the final two games of a road series at No. 4 Alabama. Under first-year head coach Tony Baldwin, the Bulldogs opened conference play with back-to-back series wins over South Carolina and Texas A&M.
- Series Record: Tennessee leads 43-37
- In Athens: Tennessee leads 19-17
- Last Meeting: Georgia took game three of the last year’s series in Knoxville, winning 11-8 in nine innings. Ashley Morgan drove in four of UT’s runs with a pair of two-RBI doubles.
- Key Stat: The Bulldogs returned all nine members of last season’s starting lineup, and the offense brought back a large portion of the 2021 squad’s production: 80 of 83 home runs, 95% of the run production and 149 extra-base hits.
UP NEXT: The Lady Vols make a trip to the Appalachian Mountains for a midweek non-conference matchup at Western Carolina on Wednesday, April 13. First pitch is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
-UT Athletics
