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Tennessee softball: Three takeaways from Lady Vols’ 4-0 start at Felsberg Invitational

By Caleb Calhoun

A foul ball is caught during a NCAA Tournament softball game between the Lady Vols and North Carolina, at Sherri Lee Parker Stadium in Knoxville, Sunday, May 19, 2019. North Carolina defeated Tennessee 1-0.Utncsoftball0519 1010
A foul ball is caught during a NCAA Tournament softball game between the Lady Vols and North Carolina, at Sherri Lee Parker Stadium in Knoxville, Sunday, May 19, 2019. North Carolina defeated Tennessee 1-0.Utncsoftball0519 1010 /
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After Sunday’s championship game against the Maryland Terrapins was rained out, Tennessee softball effectively ended its opening weekend as champions of the Felsberg Invitational. Karen Weekly’s No. 16 ranked Lady Vols walked away the only undefeated team of the four who took part in the event.

UT opened things up Friday at the Miami, Fla., event, beating the UNC Greensboro Spartans 4-0. They then beat the Terps 2-1 later that day. On Saturday, they scored a pair of victories against the team hosting the event, the Florida International Panthers.

Rocky Top beat FIU 4-3 and then 7-1, the latter being part of a four-team elimination tournament with the teams seeded based on how they performed in the three scheduled games. Up next for UT is another event in Florida beginning Thursday against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Here are three takeaways from Tennessee softball’s opening weekend.

1. Ashley Rogers lived up to her All-American billing.

She started the first game and finished two others. In the process, Ashley Rogers pitched 12.3 innings over the weekend, allowing 0 runs and just four hits. Against UNCG, she pitched a complete game and allowed just one hit.

A day later, Erin Edmoundson pitched a solid five innings, allowing just one run, but Rogers pitched the final one and two thirds innings and got the save in a 2-1 win. Nicola Simpson had a rough outing Saturday, allowing three runs in the first inning. Ryleigh White and Rogers came in and finished, with Rogers getting the win.

2. Home runs carried the way.

Eight of Tennessee softball’s 17 runs over the weekend came off home runs. They hit six in four games. Ivy Davis and Ashley Morgan were the stars. They both homered in the opener, and then they homered in the final game that was played.

McKenna Gibson also hit a deep shot in the final game as UT won 7-1. Then there was the Lady Vols’ first win against FIU. Kaitlin Parsons hit a solo shot in the fourth inning to complete a comeback by UT in a 4-3 win, which leads to our final point.

3. Deficits don’t phase this team.

Despite Rogers’ elite pitching, the Lady Vols weren’t able to avoid falling behind in games when she wasn’t in there. Edmoundson allowed Maryland to score the first run Friday. We mentioned  Simpson allowing FIU to go up 3-0 in the first inning Saturday.

Both times, though, UT fought back. Kiki Milloy was the star against UMD, driving in two runs on separate singles in the third and fifth innings. Davis, Zaida Puni and Parsons with her home run drove in runs in the second, third and fourth innings in their comeback against FIU. In both games, UT didn’t allow any more runs in the game after the inning in which it fell behind.

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