#11 UT Powers Past #8 LSU in SEC Quarters

Thursday, May 7

Baton Rouge, La.

6:30 PM

University of Tennessee

41-13

#8 LSU

44-11

Tennessee

LSU

May 07, 2015 | Softball

Box Score

May 7, 2015

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Meghan Gregg and Taylor Koenig homered in a three-run fourth inning, Rainey Gaffin and Shaliyah Geathers hit RBI doubles in the sixth and Megan Geer homered in the seventh to lead No. 11 Tennessee to a 7-5 upset win over No. 8 LSU on Thursday in the 2015 SEC Tournament quarterfinals at Tiger Park.

Tennessee will next face No. 1 seed Florida in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Friday at 4:30 p.m. CT/5:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU. Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza and Michele Smith will be in the broadcast booth and Holly Rowe will report from the field. Fans can also listen live on WNML 990 AM and UTSports.com with Brian Rice on the call.

Geer, Gregg and Lexi Overstreet had two hits each. Gaffin and Koenig had two RBIs apiece in the win.

Gaffin (14-2) earned the victory after throwing 2.1 shutout frames in relief with three strikeouts. Starter Gretchen Aucoin went 1.1 frames with two runs allowed. Erin Gabriel struck out three over three innings with two runs allowed. Cheyanne Tarango gave up one run over one third of an inning.

Allie Walljasper (13-5) took the loss for LSU after giving up four runs over the final 2.1 frames. Starter Carley Hoover gave up three runs in 4.2 innings of work.

LSU scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first when Bianka Bell clubbed a one-out RBI double to left field, scoring A.J. Andrews from second base.

The Tigers extended their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning. Emily Griggs hit an RBI single to left field, plating Constance Quinn from third base. Gabriel relieved Aucoin in the circle and got the last two outs with a fielder's choice forceout at third and looking strikeout against Bell.

Tennessee seized control of the game in the top of the fourth, scoring three runs in a hurry to take a 3-2 lead. After the inning started with back-to-back groundouts to third base, Gregg smashed a solo home run, her 11th on the year, to straightaway center field off the first pitch she saw from LSU starter Carley Hoover. Overstreet hit a single up the middle and Koenig rocketed the first pitch she saw from Hoover to center for a two-run blast. Koenig's homer was her team-leading 17th on the year.

LSU surged back in front with a three-run fifth inning. Bell knotted the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth when she hit a leadoff home run to left field. After a strikeout and a walk, Tarango relieved Gabriel in the circle. The Tigers reclaimed the lead when Quinn hit an RBI single up the middle and advanced to third base on an errant throw from center field. Quinn later scored on an RBI single up the middle by Sydney Bourg, giving LSU a 5-3 lead.

The Lady Vols answered with three runs in the top of the sixth to take a 6-5 lead. With two outs, Gaffin clubbed a two-run double to right center. Geathers followed with an RBI double to left center, plating Gaffin for the go-ahead run to silence a boisterous LSU crowd.

Geer added some insurance in the top of the seventh, hitting a leadoff home run to left field to give UT a two-run cushion. The blast was Geer's 13th on the year.