KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas’ comeback fell short as they saw a bases-loaded seventh inning fall short in a 6-4 loss in the first game of a weekend series against Tennessee.
The first inning went quickly with Arkansas’ Autumn Storms and Tennessee’s Ashley Rogers retired the opposing lineup in order.
The Vols struck first with an RBI single to right field that scored a runner from second to give them a 1-0 lead.
Senior Ashley Diaz crushed a 1-1 pitch in the third inning, bouncing it off the scoreboard, scoring sophomore Hannah McEwen and giving the Hogs a 2-1 lead.
Tennessee responded in the bottom of the inning with four more runs, two of which came after a Razorback error that allowed the Lady Vols to load the bases.
Tennessee tacked on an additional run in the fifth inning, after Lady Vol Ashley Morgan reached on a double and advanced to third on back-to-back ground outs.
Now trailing 6-2, the Razorbacks stepped up to bat in the sixth inning and fought back- plating two more runs to cut the Tennessee lead to 6-4.
Freshman Taylor Greene would start the sixth with a lead-off walk, as the Hogs called to pinch-runner Sam Torres to take the base.
Torres scored Arkansas’ third run, moving to second on a single by McEwen and onto third, and then home after a Tennessee passed ball and base hit by senior Katie Warrick.
With her 2-3 performance at the plate, McEwen extends her reached base streak to 25 and her hit streak to 13 games.
McEwen scored the final run of the game, off the bat of Diaz, who sent a perfectly executed sacrifice fly to the warning track in left field.
Sophomore Mary Haff entered in relief for Arkansas and was able to keep the Lady Volunteers scoreless through two more innings to keep the game within reach.
Top of the seventh and trailing by two, sophomore Nicole Duncan was hit by a pitch for a team-leading, 10th time this season. Greene followed with a seven-pitch walk and after a Tennessee pitching change, McEwen walked the bases loaded.
The Lady Vols would put out the Razorback fire there, striking out back-to-back Hogs and ending the game in their favor.
Arkansas and Tennessee will meet Saturday for game two in Knoxville, with first pitch schedule for 5:00 pm
