By WNML Staff

John Wilkerson and Jimmy Hyams are previewing every UT football 2017 season opponent on SportsTalk.

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 8-ranked Tennessee Volunteers fell to No. 9 Texas A&M, 5-3, in Sunday’s Game Three of the Knoxville Super Regional, coming up just one win short of the program’s eighth trip to the Women’s College World Series.

The loss marked Tennessee’s (48-12) second time not advancing out of a Super Regional (also 2014) and the first when hosting at Sheri Parker Lee Stadium.

In the top of the first inning, Matty Moss was able to escape an early jam after a leadoff single and a pair of walks loaded the bases full of Aggies with two outs. Moss got Riley Sartain to pop up to third base to end the threat.

In the bottom of the frame, the Vols capitalized on a Texas A&M (47-11) defensive miscue to take the lead. Meghan Gregg singled to left field with two outs and ended up at third after the ball rolled under Keeli Milligan’s glove for a two-base error. Brooke Vines then singled to left field to drive in Gregg and give UT a 1-0 lead in the first inning for the third straight game.

Tennessee scored twice in the second to take a three-run lead. Chelsea Seggern and CJ McClain reached base on consecutive infield singles and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. One batter later, Aubrey Leach hit a deep sacrifice fly to score Seggern from third base. A throwing error by Aggies’ center fielder Erica Russell allowed McClain to score on the play as well to give the Vols a 3-0 advantage.

Four Texas A&M runs in the top of the third quickly erased UT’s lead and put the Aggies on top. An error, a single and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with one out for Ashley Walters, who drove in Kaitlyn Alderink with a sacrifice fly. After leaving the bases loaded in the first, Sartain redeemed herself with a three-run homer to left field to give A&M the lead, 4-3.

The Aggies added to their advantage in the top of the fifth with a home run from Tori Vidales over the left-field wall. The solo shot prompted a pitching change for the Vols as Caylan Arnold entered the game with A&M leading 5-3.

Arnold went on to toss 3.0 shutout innings and struck out one batter in the outing to hold Texas A&M to a two-run lead.

Tennessee’s starter Moss was charged with the loss. She allowed five runs (one earned) on four hits and fired two strikeouts over 4.0 innings of work.

Gregg, McClain and Seggern all had a hit and scored a run to led UT offensively. Sartain’s three-run homer in the third proved to be the game-winner for the Aggies. Vidales also had another strong performance with two hits, two runs and an RBI. Trinity Harrington went the distance in the circle for A&M to improve to 14-2 on the year. The right-hander didn’t allow a single hit over the last four innings after giving up six and three runs over the first three.

NEW ATTENDANCE RECORDS: Sunday’s game attendance of 2,459 broke the single-game record for Sherri Parker Lee Stadium of 2,365 that was set in Game Two of the 2017 NCAA Super Regional on Saturday night. The weekend attendance total of 7,176 also set a new three-game record.

HOLCOMB EXTENDS HIT STREAK: Jenna Holcomb concluded the season on a nine game hit streak after her 1-for-4 performance on Sunday. The streak dates back to her 2-for-2 outing vs. Texas A&M on May 6.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Tennessee vs. Texas A&M

SCORE: Texas A&M 5, Tennessee 3

Texas A&M Head Coach Jo Evans

(On Harrington’s performance)
“I thought Trinity Harrington was terrific. She pitched yesterday, and I thought she did very well. We didn’t get outs all the time when we could have for her. She seemed like our best matchup coming into today. She hasn’t thrown two games in a row in a long time. She showed really great stamina, especially after going home to Colorado for a while. I thought she showed great composure and poise on the mound and gave us a chance to get outs. Early on when we couldn’t get outs, she could have easily gotten frustrated and felt like she would have to strike people out because we weren’t making plays. Instead, she stayed patient with us. She kept doing what she does. I’m proud of her because she showed a lot of heart, and I thought her team really stepped up.”

(On being able to fight back in tight situations)
“This team plays really hard for each other. There is something about this team’s chemistry. There is something special about the ball club. They go to war for each other. We’ve had a good year. We didn’t take care of business in the Kentucky or Tennessee series. We could have let that define us, but we didn’t. We have been really resilient. My message to the team after losing to Alabama in the first round of the SEC Tournament was all about confidence and swagger. I thought we were feeling bad about ourselves instead of recognizing what we had done the entire year to get the No. 9 seed. I’m very proud of this team. None of these kids have been in this situation. They hadn’t even been to a Super Regional. For our team to calm themselves down and come out and win this, I am really proud of them.”

Texas A&M Junior Infielder Tori Vidales

(On bringing in the go-ahead run)
“Mentally, I was just thinking about putting the barrel on the ball. A lot of times, you can go up being timid or thinking about past at-bats. I went in thinking about hitting the first strike and hitting it hard to where they couldn’t get it. It worked out pretty well.”

(On what advancing to the College World Series means for the program)

“This program was built by the ones who came before us. I don’t think it was all us. There were players before us who paved the way to make this happen. The new stadium isn’t because we did great one year; it’s because this program has constantly had success. Players love to be here, and our culture is family. That’s what we are all about. Everyone before us has left their legacy, and we are going to continue to do that ourselves. ”

Texas A&M Sophomore Infielder Riley Sartain

(On fighting back from an early deficit)
“We knew this game would be a battle and grind. We knew they would score runs, so we were going to have to score more than them. This whole season, we’ve learned how to win in so many ways. I’m just happy we were able to come from behind to win.”

(On hitting the go-ahead home run)
“It was great. In the first inning when I had the bases loaded with two outs, I wanted to be the player who would come through for my team. Unfortunately, I didn’t, so I went into the dugout and told myself I would come through for my team if I got another opportunity like that. I’m happy I was put in that situation again with runners on base. I tried to get a good pitch to hit and drive it hard. I got that opportunity.”

Tennessee Co-Head Coach Karen Weekly

(Opening Statement)

“First of all I’d like to congratulate Texas A&M, it was a great three game series. I have a lot of respect for their program, for their coaching staff and for head coach Jo Evans. Class program, the kind of team you’d like to play, you know it’s going to be a straight up battle. No gamesmanship, just two great programs going at it. J is a great friend and somebody I have a lot of respect for; I think they will be a great representative at the College World Series for the SEC.

“Second thing, I’d like to tell our fans how much we appreciate them. Not just this weekend but this entire season. The turnout at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium every week was phenomenal. Not just people in the seats but the enthusiasm, the noise, and the energy was just unbelievable. I can’t tell them enough how our kids appreciate that, I wish I could tell each one of them individually what that means to us, to our team and to our program. To each and every player. I hope they keep coming back and it gets better and better. I promise you we’re going to add more seats because we never want to turn fans away.

“The third thing is a huge thank you to these two young ladies here, our team captains. Megan Geer who’s a senior and unfortunately we have to say goodbye to now but we just had a team meeting and the girls all expressed what they feel about her and what a role model she’s been for so many players on our team. Just a model of consistency, the glue for our team, somebody who comes to work every day with the same attitude no matter if things are going well for her or not. You get the same thing all the time and somebody that our entire team looks up too. We’re going to miss her very much but just can’t say enough about these two young ladies and what they mean to our team and what Megan Geer has meant to our program over the course of her four years and just really happy I get to coach Meghan Gregg another year.”

(On the message to the team this weekend)

“This morning I told them two things, that I love this team, I love coming to work every day, I love being in the clubhouse and I wanted to get there early and I wanted to stay late because I just enjoyed them as people. I enjoyed how hard they worked but they were just fun to be around. There was no selfishness on this team. The second thing I told them was tonight I wanted them to lay their head down on their pillows with peace of mind. That they didn’t hold anything back, that they weren’t afraid of anything today and giving it your all is a cliché but what I meant by that was no emotional hang ups and no fears. You throw every pitch with 100 percent conviction and you go up to every at-bat with 100 percent conviction and if at the end of the game you feel like you did that, then you’ll rest easy with the result.”

(On Texas A&M coming from behind two days in a row)

“To me it’s not about them coming from behind, you’ve got seven innings to play so it doesn’t matter when you put up those runs. You look at their lineup and there aren’t many lineups in the country that are that solid one through nine. All season we struggled to figure out a couple positions, Haley Bearden really started for us when we got to Texas A&M a couple weeks ago. First base was a positon we really struggled to find somebody, catcher was a positon we struggled to find consistency. When I compare the two lineups and I look at them and they’ve got the same people in the same spots all year long and really good hitters. Even though we out hit them in all three games you’ve got to pretty much play almost a perfect game defensively and on the mound.”

(On Caylan Arnold not giving up a hit for the last four innings)

“I thought Caylan looked a lot more like the Caylan we say at the beginning of the season and over the first two thirds of the season. She just kind of hit a rough patch that freshman typically do. She really bounced back well from last night.”

(On what the experience of getting to Super Regionals means for the younger players)

“I think its huge, because they were really hurting. They really care about each other and wanted to play for another week and they really wanted to go to Oklahoma City. I think they are going to be very hungry to get a few more pieces in here that we needed and really make that push next year. Like you said we’re young and we need just a few more weapons, Texas A&M has a few more weapons then we do.”

Tennessee Senior Outfielder Megan Geer

(On her emotions after being so close to moving on)
“Obviously, it’s a big disappointment. Our team fought every single inning of the series. You can’t ask for much more. For it to not go our way, that’s our hats off to Texas A&M. They’re a great team. They had a little bit more than us today. That’s how it goes sometimes. It’s pretty disappointing, but our team has really enjoyed playing together all season. To get to do that one last time was very special.”

(On what she will remember about this year’s team)

“This team was different than any of the other teams I had been a part of. I think I will remember how much everyone loved each other. There were strong friendships made, and I think that is what all the girls will remember.”

Tennessee Junior Shortstop Meghan Gregg

(On Texas A&M’s pitching today)
“Trinity Harrington is a really good pitcher. We just weren’t able to get the momentum back on our side. Today wasn’t one of the better days that we’ve had, but we still got six hits off her. It would have been great if we could have gotten a couple more. I think we had quality at-bats today, so you can’t ask much more from our team.”

(On what she will remember about this year’s team)
“This is the most fun team I have ever been on. This team totally bought into everything that we were doing. Everyone had each other’s back and was having fun. We fed off each other’s energy. I couldn’t have asked for a better team.”

(On the hard work put in by this year’s team)
“Our team set the bar high, and we will expect the same next year. We have a lot of youth that will continue to do what they did this year. Everyone coming in can follow our lead and buy into it because it’s a lot of fun when you do.”

-UT Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 8 Tennessee is one win away from advancing to the Women’s College World Series after an 8-1 victory over No. 9 Texas A&M in the opening game of the NCAA Super Regionals at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on Fridaynight.

Matty Moss threw her 14th complete game of the season to improve to 26-2 on the year while Jenna Holcomb led the team offensively with a triple and two RBIs. UT set a new single-game attendance record as 2,353 fans packed into Lee Stadium to create a raucous environment.

The Vols opened the game with a run in the top of the first thanks to a perfect bunt single by Brooke Vines to score Aubrey Leach from third base. UT went on to load the bases later in the inning but were unable to capitalize for more runs.

The Big Orange added two more runs in the second inning to jump out to a 3-0 lead. CJ McClain reached on an infield single, stole second and came around to score on a triple by Holcomb. One batter later, Holcomb raced home and scored on a passed ball to extend the Vols’ advantage to three runs after two innings.

Tennessee (48-10) blew the game wide open with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the third inning to make it 8-0. The Vols were aided by four walks from Texas A&M pitchers in the frame. Abby Lockman and Katie Weimer drew back-to-back walks with the bases loaded to bring in the first two runs of the inning. Leach and Holcomb kept the train rolling with RBIs of their own before Meghan Gregg capped the scoring with an RBI groundout, moving her into sole possession of the UT single-season RBI record with 78.

Texas A&M (45-11) broke up the shutout and avoided the run rule by scoring a run in the top of the fifth. Ashley Walters led off the inning with a double and pinch runner Blake-Ann Fritsch scored two at-bats later when Sarah Hudek singled to left field to cut UT’s lead to 8-1.

Samantha Show was stuck with the loss for the Aggies, giving up six runs on five hits while walking five batters in just two innings of work. Hudek was the only A&M player with multiple hits for the game.

UP NEXT: The Volunteers will try and secure their spot in the Women’s College World Series with a win in tomorrow’s contest against the Aggies. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. ET and the game will be aired live on ESPN2.

RBI RECORD BELONGS TO GREGG: Junior shortstop Meghan Gregg broke the Tennessee single-season RBI record with a groundout in the third inning. Gregg’s 78 RBIs this year move her ahead of Kristi Durant (2005) and Bridget Jackson (1996), who were previously tied with Gregg for the record with 77.

HOLCOMB DELIVERS: Freshman outfielder Jenna Holcomb was one of six Volunteers to drive in runs on the evening. The California native tripled, scored a run and had two RBIs in the win for UT.

PATIENCE PAYS OFF: The Vols were patient at the plate and it paid off big time in Friday’s victory. UT drew seven walks, including four in a five-run third inning that effectively put the game on ice. Aggies’ starting pitcher Samantha Show walked a season-high five batters before being pulled in the third. Texas A&M also walked in a pair of runs in the third inning.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Tennessee vs. Texas A&M

SCORE: Tennessee 8, Texas A&M 1

Tennessee – Head Coach Ralph Weekly

(Opening Statement)
“First of all I want to thank our grounds crew and our administration from the NCAA, Coach Rucker and the folks who got that field in such a beautiful shape. It played beautiful and looked beautiful, I couldn’t be prouder to be hosting. I have a ton of respect for the A&M staff, the A&M administration and those players on the A&M team. Nothing has been won yet; we won the first round of a three round boxing match, that’s the way I look at it. If we’re fortunate to come out tomorrow and play really well, then maybe the bout could be shorten. Right now it’s two tough teams going at each other and they shut us down for three innings at the end and did it with a pitcher that we knew was a challenge to us. We’re going back to watch film and I guarantee you that we’ll be ready tomorrow, just like they’ll be ready tomorrow. It was just a great SEC ballgame.”

(On the paitent approach at the plate)
“We spent the whole week on batting based on the comments from Longwood’s staff that the bottom of our order wasn’t producing very much. The bottom of our order worked hard and there were glimpses of having it down pat but we still need to hit more through the order.”

(On what he saw from Matty Moss)
“I saw much improvement from Matty and you’ve got to remember that Texas A&M is a very strong hitting team, with about four or more kids that hit about eight home runs. I definitely saw improvement but she pitched two full games and come in relief against them at Texas A&M. I thought she did well.”

(On the message to the team heading into tomorrow)

“We have to be ready for a battle. Texas A&M’s kids are not going to give in. They aren’t going to show up and say, ‘Okay Tennessee, you guys are going to go and represent us.’ They are going to battle us tomorrow, and they will battle on Sunday if it goes that far. But, we are going to battle back. We both respect each other. Tonight’s game was clean. That’s what I really liked about it. There were no games within the game. It was just a good, clean, hard softball game.”

Matty Moss #1

(On shutting down their lineup)
“I was able to execute the pitches that Karen was calling. Caylan Arnold and I have been working really hard since our series against them a few weeks ago because we gave up too many runs to them. We’ve worked really hard on executing our pitches that have been called, and I feel like both of us have made a lot of improvement.”

(On if she was nervous going into the game)

“I just try to go out and play the same game that we have been playing all year. Obviously, it’s a little bit bigger of a stage and more is at stake. It’s more fun that way.”

Jenna Holcomb #2

(On what the team will take away from UT’s offensive production)
“I think we were really trying to execute the little things and tried to stay simple and play the same game we have played all year. I think it worked really well. If we come out on top tomorrow, we will be fine.”

(On taking advantage of all the walks and errors)

“Especially early in the game, we know we have to execute with runners on base because they are a good team, and we have to get runs on the board early. We were able to do that today.”

Texas A&M – Head Coach – Jo Evans

(Opening Statement)
“It was a tough day for us, obviously. Obviously, we’re not happy with our performance. We go on our heels early and made some mistakes that were really just uncharacteristic mistakes for us. And then the wheels fell off. I don’t really have any excuses other than to say we weren’t very good. And we wouldn’t be the No. 9 seed in the country if we weren’t pretty good. So we’re disappointed in our performance.

“Some bright spots… Payton McBride went out there, she was terrific on the mound, gave us a chance to extend the innings and play with some more outs and try to score some more runs. I thought she really showed great composure on the mound. You look at her as a freshman—she was as composed as anybody out there on the field today, so I’m really pleased with that.

“We started to strike the ball a lot better as the game went on, so that’s something to put in our back pocket. We had some kids drive the ball against Matty Moss. But the cliché: tomorrow is a new day. And that’s how I feel right now. I think it’s really important that we don’t get too bogged down with this. I don’t think we need to sit here and search for answers to what went wrong today. We just were out of sync; there’s no other way to look at it. So, for me, I just want to get back and play. And I said to our ball club—when you go to Super Regionals, you need to win two games—nobody tells you it has to be the first and second day, the first and third… you’ve just got to win two. So for us, our mindset is to come out tomorrow and win.”

(On the team’s uncharacteristic mistakes and their implications)
“Everybody in Super Regionals is a really good team. We had seven free passes, I think. Our walks really hurt us. That’s where Payton (McBride) came in and did really well. She threw strikes. We needed one of our pitchers to go in there and throw strikes. We’ve made a living this year on not extending innings. When we have outs, we get them, even if a run might score. We’ve played from behind a bunch of times. That doesn’t bother us. We just let ourselves get too far out of it. You have to give credit to Tennessee. They end up with seven RBIs. They went up there and they got timely hits when they needed them. They took their walks. It doesn’t feel good to not play well. I’ve been doing this a long time, so I’ve lost my share of games as a coach. I can handle that. It’s just disappointing to not play well on center stage. So for me, I just want our kids to regroup and get back in there. We’ve lost to Tennessee three times (this season), and all three times, we had walks and made some errors. So I want to see us play a clean game and then we’ll take what we get.”

(On the performance of Tennessee pitcher Matty Moss)

“I think sometimes when you get down quickly like that, the game just speed up. If we’re in a one-run game in that situation, that’s a whole different scenario for our hitters. I thought the game just got sped up in our heads. Matty Moss is really good, and she’s good at getting herself out of inning jams that she gets herself into. They play good defense behind her. She looked similar to what we’ve seen before, but I think it’s a different story if we don’t put ourselves at such a disadvantage so early.”

(On the importance of her team’s improved play over the final innings heading into Saturday)

“I think it’s really important. You have to have a short memory in this game—unless you’re lights-out and then you just remember the heck out of it. They’re just little things… like I don’t want to end the game on a double play where we run into a tag and make it an easier play. But I thought we started to stroke the ball better, square it up better. So I felt good about that—that we were getting some quality at-bats in that situation and we were starting to get outs on defense. I felt that we turned a corner. But it was challenging for us to make up the distance.”

Peyton McBride #5

(On coming in with the bases loaded)
“There was bases loaded when I went in so I just wanted to make something happen—just get the ball in play somewhere. That way, we could move runners and throw to the bases and get the outs we needed to get in the inning.”

-UT Athletics