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Tennessee softball: Three takeaways from Lady Vols’ sweep of Texas A&M

By Caleb Calhoun

Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, January 2, 2019.University Of Tennessee Building
Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, January 2, 2019.University Of Tennessee Building /
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Back to back walk-off home runs, including a grand slam, and a complete game by Erin Edmoundson secured a sweep of the Texas A&M Aggies by Tennessee softball this past weekend. The series at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., ended Monday night, with Karen Weekly’s team winning 5-1.

The Lady Vols, who entered the series ranked in the top 20 across the board, won 7-5 Saturday off a two-run shot from Zaida Puni. They then came back from an 8-4 deficit Sunday thanks to three runs in the sixth and the seventh-inning grand slam, hit by Kelcy Leach, to win 11-8, improving to 30-12 and 11-6 in league play. A&M fell to 24-17 and 3-12 in league play.

Up next for Rocky Top is a break from SEC play with a visit from the Virginia Tech Hokies Wednesday before the Lady Vol Challenge this weekend. A&M, meanwhile, will host the Alabama Crimson Tide this weekend. Here are three things we learned from Tennessee softball’s sweep.

1. Elite baserunning supplemented clutch home runs.

When you talk about what Puni and Leach did, homers would naturally be the story. However, despite living and dying by the long ball all year and those two dramatic shots, the Lady Vols didn’t do most of their scoring off that. In fact, they only had three homers over the weekend. Puni had another two-run shot Sunday, giving them eight of their 23 runs off homers.

What really made the difference for the Lady Vols was elite baserunning. They were 5-of-5 on stolen base attempts this weekend. Katie Taylor had two, and Kiki Milloy, Anna Fox and Kaitlin Parsons all had one. Extra base hits were also a thing. Puni, the star of the weekend, had two doubles. Leach, Milloy, Ivy Davis and McKenna Gibson all had one as well.

2. Texas A&M’s mistakes on defense helped a lot.

Let’s first give credit to Tennessee softball. Earlier in the year, they struggled defensively, and that could have proven costly in SEC play. However, again, it was their defense that made the difference. UT had a .988 fielding percentage with just one error over the weekend, and they allowed no unearned runs. A&M had three errors and allowed seven unearned runs.

That was the difference in Saturday’s game, where they allowed three in a two-run loss. Three runs were scored on passed balls or wild pitches, and another occurred on an in-play error. Simply put, this combined with the clutch home runs is specifically why UT was able to win.

3. Starting pitching is a real concern.

Errors by A&M plus those late-game home runs were only needed because the Lady Vols struggled on the mound. Erin Edmoundson rebounded Sunday with a complete game and one run allowed. However, on Friday, she allowed five earned runs in less than six innings pitched.

Ryleigh White got the nod Saturday and actually came back in during the sixth inning. Altogether, she allowed five earned runs in just over two innings pitched. Bailey McCachren allowed a run in just over one inning. Now, Edmoundson closed the deal in that game, and Nicola Simpson had a solid weekend, but overall, this was a real problem.

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