by Tristan Thornhill
The No. 7 Lady Vols had their six-game winning snapped by the No. 17 Razorbacks in game one of a three-game weekend set at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on Saturday night, falling 6-3 in extras.
Arkansas pitcher Robyn Herron earned her ninth victory of the year in an impressive showing, seemingly keeping the Lady Vols guessing at the dish all night long.
The Lady Vols were swinging all over the place, and it never felt like they properly timed up Herron in the on-deck circle, forcing several bad swings on off-speed pitches, and several late swings on risers, and fastballs.
Karlyn Pickens provided all she could from the circle, going all 8 innings despite a rocky start, and throwing 161 pitches, with 10 Ks. Walks haunted her in the later parts of the game and was ultimately the reason she was given her fourth loss on the year.
It was an uneventful top of the first for Pickens, getting the Razorbacks to go down in order, two via a ground out.
However, in the bottom half of the first, the Lady Vols squandered a golden opportunity to set the tone for the rest of the game.
Fiedler started the inning with a double that smacked off the base of the left field wall for a double, followed by a Taylor Pannell walk. After McKenna Gibson struck out looking, Pannell and Fiedler pulled off a double steal, setting up Laura Mealer with two in scoring position with only one out.
Unfortunately for the Lady Vols, Mealer and Sophia Nugent both struck out swinging, ending the inning.
Arkansas didn’t waste any time taking advantage of the Lady Vols missing their opportunity.
In the top of the second, Bri Ellis singled back up the middle, and Courtney Day crushed a 2-run homer to left-center field, giving Arkansas a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Vols couldn’t respond in the second, going down 1,2,3, with two strikeouts.
However, in the bottom of the third, the Lady Vols showed some life after a Fiedler walk and stolen base. Gibson homered to right field to tie the game up at 2.
It would stay that way until the 5th inning, when Kailey Wyckoff came up in a bases loaded thanks to a lead-off double, walk, and single to right field. She took a 2-0 pitch to right, singling home a run, giving the Razorbacks the lead back.
The Lady Vols had no instant response, going down in order once more in the fifth.
However, in the sixth inning, it seemed the Lady Vols had a golden opportunity to take the lead.
Nugent doubled to left, scoring Amanda Ahlin after she got on via a Gibson walk, tying the game again at 3. But after a walk to Destiny Rodriguez, the Lady Vols could have taken the lead, with two on and two out. Once again, they failed to capitalize with another golden opportunity after Amayah Doyle flew out to right in her pinch-hit at-bat.
The Lady Vols were sat down to end the seventh, meaning we had free softball at Sherri Parker Lee, but only one team showed up for it.
The Razorbacks had the bases loaded thanks to a fielding error and back-to-back singles. Atalyia Rijo did her job, hitting a sac fly to right, giving Arkansas the lead in a crucial spot.
But the Lady Vols added insult to injury, once Pickens walked in the next two runs, giving Arkansas a commanding 6-3 lead, which in this game, seemed insurmountable.
It was indeed too much for the Lady Vols, who wasted a Nugent single with two outs, and ultimately dropped game one in extras, 6-3.
The Lady Vols, determined to bounce back from a gut-wrenching loss, will face the Razorbacks in game two on Sunday, with first pitch at noon in Knoxville.