Vols Drop Series Finale to #10 Georgia, 6-2

Monday, April 18

Athens, Ga.

7:00 PM

University of Tennessee

33-11, 0

No. 10/10 Georgia

36-10, 0

Tennessee

Georgia

April 18, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

April 18, 2016

Box Score | Highlights | Postgame Media |

ATHENS, Ga. -- No. 15 Tennessee couldn't dig themselves out of an early hole against No. 10 Georgia on Monday night, dropping the series finale, 6-2, at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens.

The Bulldogs (36-10, 9-6 SEC) tagged UT's freshmen pitchers Matty Moss and Bria Bush for five runs in the second inning to take an early 6-0 lead. Moss settled in after that and held Georgia scoreless the rest of the way but was stuck with the loss after surrendering three runs on seven hits over six innings of work.

Gretchen Aucoin and Brooke Vines drove in the only two Tennessee runs on the night with a double in the fourth and a single in the fifth, respectively.

After UT (33-11, 12-6 SEC) opened the scoring in the first two games, it was Georgia who struck first on Monday. The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead on an RBI double from Alex Hugo in the bottom of the first. Sydni Emanuel led off the inning with an infield single and scored from second on Hugo's second double of the series.

UGA's bats stayed hot in the second as the Dawgs scored five runs to increase their lead to 6-0. Lacey Sumerlin doubled off the wall in left center to score Maeve McGuire before Cortni Emanuel singled with the bases loaded to make it 3-0. Hugo brought in two more runs with a single to left field and Tina Iosefa wrapped up the scoring with a deep sacrifice fly.

Meghan Gregg got the Vols' first hit with a leadoff single in the fourth. She came around to score three batters later on a double to the gap in right center by Aucoin to get the Orange and White on the board.

The Big Orange chipped away at the Georgia lead again in the top of the fifth. Shaliyah Geathers led off with a pinch-hit single before Vines roped an RBI single off the wall in right field to cut the deficit to four. That would be as close as the Vols would get, however, as Brittany Gray came in to shut the door and preserve the win with 2.2 perfect innings of relief.

Chelsea Wilkinson improved to 21-3 on the year for the Bulldogs after allowing just one earned run in 4.1 innings. The loss snapped a nine-game win streak for the UT over Georgia that dated back to 2012.

Tennessee returns to Knoxville to begin a stretch of seven consecutive home games this Wednesday when they welcome Furman to Lee Stadium for a midweek matchup at 6 p.m. Fans can listen to Brian Rice call the game on WNML AM 990.