By Stephen Mason
OKLAHOMA CITY — It was absolute cinema in Devon Park on Saturday afternoon as Tennessee walked off Texas Tech 2-1 in extra innings to claim its spot in the Women’s College World Series Semifinals.
What was billed as a pitching duel between two elite teams did not disappoint, as the Red Raiders and Lady Volunteers traded blows throughout the nine-inning marathon. In the end, it was top-notch defense that not only kept Tennessee in the game but also gave them the win.
“The defense is what kept us in that game. You don’t see those in the stat sheet, but they’re the reason we won that game, because of how tough they are behind us,” Sage Mardjetko said.
Whether it was Emma Clarke making a diving snag in the third, Sophia Knight throwing a ball on a rope to Elsa Morrison, who placed the tag on Mia Williams to keep the Red Raiders off the board in the sixth, or Alannah Leach making the diving catch in the seventh to keep the game tied, clutch plays were being made across the field by Tennessee.
“We see that kind of stuff in practice all the time. It’s a very, very competitive outfield. That’s why we have some really good outfielders that aren’t in the game because we’ve got some studs out there,” head coach Karen Weekly said.
For a team that scored 70 runs in the NCAA tournament, Tennessee’s pitching and defense sent a jolt to the Red Raiders as they struggled to even put on base runners for most of the game.
“They shut our offense down the way that I don’t think we’ve been shut down like that in the postseason. I thought their defense made several really nice plays, especially in big situations,” Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco said.
However, with the Red Raiders putting together an impressive defensive showing of their own, Tennessee needed to generate some offense from somewhere, and it came from the nine-hole.
In the fifth inning, Taelyn Holley sent a ball over the left-field fence. As the freshman rounded third base, she wiped tears from her eyes after giving her team the lead.
“I mean, fricking awesome. It’s really cool that freshmen have had two of our most special moments here so far, with Elsa a couple of days ago and now Tae. We knew when we recruited this class, they were really, really special players,” Weekly said.
This narrow lead that Tennessee built would not last forever. Karlyn Pickens made the start in the circle, and while she powered through the Texas Tech lineup early on, she hit some bumps down the stretch.
“The game plan was to get ahead, trust my pitches. We talk a lot about limiting the freebies, the free passes. Just throwing my game, trusting my pitches, and trusting Megan, the pitching coach,” Pickens said.
Pickens ran into trouble in the seventh inning, loading the bases with no outs. Texas Tech made the most of this opportunity, executing a successful sacrifice fly. However, Knight almost executed another throw to the plate from right field to get the runner out.
At this point, Weekly decided to make a pitching change, bringing Sage Mardjetko into the game. Pickens finished her outing with six strikeouts while giving up one run and five hits.
“We hadn’t really set an innings limit on anything. It was more about just evaluating how she was commanding her pitches, utilizing her change-up, and whether we were able to command both sides of the plate. I felt like she was doing a good job of that. We had Sage ready,” Weekly said.
Mardjetko went the rest of the way for Tennessee, which ended up including two extra innings. She shut down the Red Raiders, giving up no hits, striking out two, and most importantly, not giving up any runs.
With neither team managing to generate offense as the game went on, there seemed to be no end to the duel between the two pitching staffs until Emma Clarke stepped up to the plate.
Leading off in the bottom of the ninth, Clarke sent a 1-0 pitch over the fence in left field to give her team the win.
“Just so much joy. I had so many thoughts. But I immediately just looked up and started to give God all the glory because I’m so grateful to be in this position, to be on this team with these people, to be able to have opportunities to be in moments like this,” Clarke said.
This swing of the bat put the Lady Volunteers into the semifinal on Monday, and one win away from the finals.
The drama did not end with the game. During the postgame handshake line, Weekly shook the hands of the Texas Tech roster, including her former player, Taylor Pannel. Pannel had made the trip to Oklahoma City last year with Tennessee, but transferred to Texas Tech in the offseason.
“We were walking through the line just saying ‘good game,’ and she said that I made a mistake instead of saying ‘good game,’ which is kind of crazy,” Pannel said. “Like, celebrate with your team. I just think it’s funny she’s still thinking about it. It’s old news.”
However, in the Tennessee press conference, before Pannel made this statement, Weekly said what she told Pannel.
“Good game, like I say to every player. Good game,” Weekly said.
While this interaction had no bearing on the play on the field, it was the fitting end to a drama-filled game between two evenly matched teams.
UP NEXT: Tennessee will have a rest day on Sunday before returning to Devon Park on Monday to play in the semifinal against the winner of the Texas-Nebraska game. They will have two opportunities to get one win that would punch their ticket to the final. The first pitch will be at noon on ESPN.