2015 Knoxville Super Regional Preview

May 19, 2015

SUPER REGIONAL SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent	Time	Links/Results
Thurs. May 21	Game 1: Florida State vs. Tennessee (H)	7 p.m. ET	ESPN2 \| \| Live Audio
Fri. May 22	Game 2: Tennessee vs. Florida State (H)	4 p.m. ET	ESPNU \| \| Live Audio
Fri. May 22	Game 3: Florida State vs. Tennessee	7 p.m. ET	ESPN \| \| Live Audio

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- No. 8 Tennessee will host No. 9 Florida State in the 2015 Knoxville Super Regional from May 21-22 at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. The ESPN family of networks will broadcast all three games.

Tennessee (45-14) is the home team in Game 1 on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. Florida State (48-12) will be the home team in Friday's Game 2 at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. If necessary, Game 3 will be at 7 p.m. on ESPN. All three games can also be viewed online on WatchESPN. Sam Gore and Amanda Freed will be the broadcasters for all three games.

WNML 990 AM and UTSports.com will also carry a live audio broadcast with Brian Rice on the call.

The Knoxville Super Regional will be a best-of-three series with the series winner advancing to the 2015 Women's College World Series, which runs from May 28 to June 3 in Oklahoma City, Okla. Tennessee has been to the WCWS six times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013) and Florida State has been to the WCWS eight times (1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2004, 2014).

Tennessee is in its eighth Super Regional (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014) and the Seminoles are in their fourth Super Regional (2002, 2004, 2014).

The Lady Vols are 3-0 all-time against Florida State, including a 4-1 win over the Seminoles on Feb. 19 in Cathedral City, Calif. Erin Gabriel tossed seven strong frames with six strikeouts, four hits, one walk and one run allowed. UT scored runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. This week's Super Regional will mark the first time the teams will square off in Knoxville.

Tennessee is coming off a 3-0 showing in the Knoxville Regional with one win over Longwood and two over Utah. UT outscored opponents 14-2 in those three games. The Lady Vols hit .338 as a team and their pitchers limited opponents to a .094 batting average in the Regional round. Gabriel was electric in the circle, going 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA, 17 strikeouts and just one run allowed over 11 strong frames. Tory Lewis hit a team-high .625 (5-of-8) and Shaliyah Geathers hit .600 (6-for-1) last week.

Florida State went 3-0 in the Tallahassee Regional with one win over Dartmouth and two over UCF. The Seminoles outscored Dartmouth and UCF by a combined score of 12-2. FSU hit .264 in those three wins and opponents hit .101 against the Seminoles pitchers. Jessica Burroughs led the way, going 2-0 with a 0.43 ERA and 16 strikeouts over 16.1 innings.

If there are any Super Regional tickets still available, they will go on sale on Thursday morning starting at 8:30 a.m. ET. Fans can order tickets by calling the Tennessee Ticket Office at 865-656-1200 or visiting the ticket office in-person between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET.

TENNESSEE
This is Tennessee's eighth Super Regional berth and UT's fifth time hosting Supers (2006, 2007, 2012, 2013).
Tennessee is the No. 8 national seed, marking the program's fifth time as a top-eight seed (No. 8 in 2006, No. 6 in 2007, No. 7 in 2012, No. 7 in 2013).
UT is 45-14 on the year and went 15-9 in SEC games.
UT went 24-13 against teams that made the 2015 NCAA Tournament, hitting 60 of its program-record 99 home runs against the nation's best.
Tennessee tied for fourth in the SEC regular-season standings and finished as the runner-up in the 2015 SEC Tournament at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge, La.
Tennessee is hitting .312 as a team with Tory Lewis (.346 BA), Meghan Gregg (.333) and Shaliyah Geathers (.333) leading the way.
The Lady Vols have hit a program-record 99 home runs this season, which ranks seventh in the nation. For the first time in team history, UT has five players with double-digit home runs: Taylor Koenig (17), Annie Aldrete (15), Megan Geer (13), Meghan Gregg (13) and Scarlet McSwain (10).
Tennessee's pitchers have combined for a 2.93 ERA and opposing teams are hitting .225 against them. Erin Gabriel is 17-6 with a 2.67 ERA. Rainey Gaffin is 15-3 with a 2.31 ERA, Gretchen Aucoin is 9-2 with a 3.63 ERA and Cheyanne Tarango is 4-3 with a 3.80 ERA.
Gabriel is enjoying the best season of her career. She threw a 16-strikeout, seven-inning no-hitter against Illinois State on March 10 and tossed a five-strikeouts, five-inning perfect game against ETSU on March 24. She became the fourth Tennessee pitcher to throw two no-hitters in the same season, joining greats Monica Abbott (four in 2004, six in 2005, six in 2006, seven in 2007), Megan Rhodes (two in 2005) and Ivy Renfroe (two in 2011, two in 2012).
Annie Aldrete earned All-SEC honors for the second-straight year, Meghan Gregg and Scarlet McSwain were named to the Freshman All-SEC team and Rainey Gaffin picked up SEC All-Defensive accolades.
Aldrete and Rainey Gaffin earned NFCA All-Southeast Region honors. Aldrete was named to the All-Southeast Region first team at catcher for the second-consecutive year. Gaffin was named to the second team as a utility/pitcher, marking her first All-Region accolade. Tennessee has had 57 NFCA All-Region selections in its 20-year history and Gaffin becomes the 28th different player to receive All-Region honors.

FLORIDA STATE
This is FSU's fourth Super Regional and the Seminoles' first Supers away from Tallahassee.
Florida State is the No. 9 national seed, the ACC regular-season champion and the ACC Tournament Champion.
FSU is 48-12 on the year and went 20-3 in ACC games.
Florida State hitting .292 as a team and opponents are hitting .170 against FSU pitching.
Morgan Klaevemann leads the team with a .408 batting average. Jessica Warren (.356 BA, 16 doubles, 11 doubles, 53 RBIs) and Maddie O'Brien (.273 BA, 13 HRs, 43 RBIs) are the team's top two power hitters.
The Seminoles pitchers have combined for a 1.85 ERA and feature a potent 1-2 punch in Lacey Waldrop (28-6, 1.50 ERA, 226 Ks, 205.1 IP) and Jessica Burroughs (18-5, 2.15 ERA, 214 Ks, 172.1 IP).
Waldrop is the ACC Pitcher of the Year, Warren is the ACC Freshman of the year and head coach Lonni Alameda was named the ACC Coach of the Year.