OKLAHOMA CITY (TVC) – Emma Clarke hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of extras to advance Tennessee to the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series, with a 2-1 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
The Lady Vols had the lead 1-0 when Taelyn Holley hit a solo home run to put the Lady Vols on the board, but in the top of the seventh, former Lady Vol Taylor Pannell scored for Texas Tech on a close play at the plate.
“What a game,” Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly said after the game. “Classic old-school pitchers’ duel. That’s a heck of a team. Just loaded, loaded one through nine. The two pitchers they have. I’m just so proud of what our team did and these young ladies sitting to my right [Pickens, Clarke, and Mardjetko]. I felt like we rode the waves of momentum really well. It would have been easy when they scored that run late to kind of fall off emotionally. We didn’t do that.”
For Tennessee, starting pitcher Karlyn Pickens went deep into the game, pitching six full innings, with six strikeouts and throwing a total of 108 pitches.
Pickens got into a bases-loaded jam in the top of the seventh before Sage Mardjetko entered to finish the inning.
The seventh inning featured a game-saving diving play from Alannah Leach, keeping the game tied going into the bottom of the seventh.
The defense kept the Lady Vols in the game with another big play, including a throw from Sophia Knight in center field to throw out Texas Tech’s Taylor Pannell at the plate and keep them from scoring in the top of the sixth.
“The defense is what kept us in that game,” Mardjetko said. “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.”
The infield also saved several hits for Tennessee, with a diving stop from Emma Clarke in the top of the third inning, amongst other defensive plays from Clarke and Ella Dodge during the early innings.
“Emma Clarke, just like ball magnet,” Pickens said. “Every ball hit her way, she’s going to field, they’re going to make a play. I think that just gives us the most confidence to be able to throw our pitches right in the zone knowing our defense is going to be there to make the plays. Gives us a lot of confidence.”
The Lady Vols are 2-0 in the winners’ bracket of the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2013. They will face the winner of Game 8 in the semifinals Monday at 11:00 a.m. CDT.
