Gaffin & Overstreet Help Vols Soar Past Owls 8-0

Tuesday, April 5

Knoxville, Tenn.

6:00 PM

University of Tennessee

28-10

Kennesaw State

21-16

Kennesaw State

Tennessee

April 05, 2016 | Softball

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April 5, 2016

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Lexi Overstreet hit a grand slam and Rainy Gaffin threw four innings of one-hit ball to propel No. 17 Tennessee to an 8-0 run-rule win over Kennesaw State on Tuesday night.

With the win the Vols (28-10) remained perfect at home this season, improving to 14-0 at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. They also stayed unbeaten in midweek games, upping their record to 5-0 in those contests.

Gaffin got UT off to a good start with a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first and was nearly unhittable in the circle throughout the game, allowing just an infield single while striking out five batters in four innings of work.

The Volunteers got off to an equally good start offensively with three hits and a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Megan Geer led things off with a walk and stole second before scoring on a triple to left-center field by Aubrey Leach. Meghan Gregg drove in the second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Leach to score from third and give Tennessee a 2-0 lead after one inning.

Following a couple of scoreless innings, the Big Orange blew things open in the fourth by scoring six runs and hitting their fifth grand slam of the season. Brooke Vines and Leach both singled and Gregg drew a walk to load the bases for Overstreet, who blasted a no-doubter off the scoreboard in left center for her team-leading eighth home run this season.

The Vols continued to pour it on with two more runs later in the fourth to increase their lead to 8-0. CJ McClain scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Scarlet McSwain and Vines followed with an RBI single up the middle in her second at-bat of the inning.

Freshman pitcher Matty Moss came in to finish out the game, recording three straight outs after giving up a leadoff single in the top of the fifth.

Nine of UT's 10 starters either scored a run, recorded a hit or drove in a run on the night. Leach went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI to extend her hit streak to eight games while Overstreet and Vines joined her in posting multi-hit performances for the game.

Megan Veringa and Noelle Winkles had the only two hits on the night for the Owls as they fell to 21-16 on the year.

Join the Vols as they open their SEC series against No. 10 Texas A&M this Friday at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network +/Watch ESPN (Online) and fans can also listen to Brian Rice call the game live on WNML AM 990 or UTSports.com.