Clearwater, Fla. – Day one at the 2024 Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational was a tough one for No. 2 Tennessee as it dropped two games despite strong pitching and out-hitting its opponents.
In game one, UT fell to No. 9 Stanford in a 1-0 pitcher’s duel. In its second game versus No. 3 Texas, the Lady Vols again came out on the wrong end of a 2-1 nail bitter.
Tennessee (4-2) out-hit Stanford five to two before out-hitting Texas eight to six.
GAME ONE: No. 2 Tennessee 0 – No. 9 Stanford 1 Regan Krause got the start in the circle for Stanford but lasted just two outs before NiJaree Canady came on in relief. The sophomore right-hander finished out the game, tossing 6.1 innings. She allowed just two hits with five strikeouts.
Canady came into the game after Krause loaded the bases in the top of the first and was able to escape the jam and keep Tennessee off the board.
Payton Gottshall tossed a complete game for UT, giving up just one run on two hits. She struck out four and walked three. She took the loss and is now 2-1 this season.
McKenna Gibson led the Lady Vols with two hits, including a leadoff double in the third.
The Cardinal scored the game’s lone run in the bottom of the first as Ava Gall hit a double to score Taryn Kern with two away.
GAME TWO: No. 2 Tennessee 1 – No. 3 Texas 2 Texas jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after two innings courtesy of a Reese Atwood double to right field in the first frame that played Bella Dayton. In the second, an error allowed Texas’ second run to score.
Junior Sophia Nugent got Tennessee on the board with an RBI single to left in the fourth inning, scoring senior Rylie West from second.
In the circle, Karlyn Pickens got the start for UT and went the distance, throwing six innings. The right-hander allowed two runs – one earned – on six hits, with six strikeouts and three walks. She suffered the loss and is 2-1 on the year.
For Texas, Citlaly Gutierrez took the ball and tossed a complete game for the Longhorns. She surrendered one run on eight hits, struck out six and walked none. With the win, Gutierrez improved to 2-0.
UP NEXT Tennessee is back in action on Saturday as it plays Georgia Tech at noon ET before facing No. 19 UCLA at 4 p.m.
ARLINGTON, Texas – Behind a dominant pitching performance and a balanced offensive showing, No. 5/9 Tennessee opened the 2024 season with a 6-2 victory over No. 18/21 Texas Tech in the Shriners Children’s College Classic on Friday night at Globe Life Field.
The duo of AJ Russell and AJ Causey stole to show with a pair of stellar outings on the mound, pitching all nine innings while combining for 17 strikeouts. The AJ’s allowed just two runs on five hits and one walk against a dangerous Red Raiders’ lineup.
Russell got the starting nod and was nearly unhittable for the first four innings, allowing just one hit while racking up a career-high 10 strikeouts in that span. The first eight outs Russell recorded in the game were via strikeout. Causey came on in relief of Russell with one out and two runners on in the fifth, and after giving up a two-run single, was able to strand the tying run at third to end the inning and preserve the Vols’ lead. The Jacksonville State transfer allowed just one hit and faced the minimum over the final four innings while racking up seven strikeouts in his 4.2 innings of work to pick up his first win as a Vol.
Billy Amick and Christian Moore powered the offense with two hits apiece, including a two-run homer by Amick that opened the scoring in the fourth inning. Hunter Ensley and Bradke Lohry also drove in runs for UT on the night while Kavares Tears scored a pair of runs.
Texas Tech struck for their only runs of the game in the bottom of the fifth when TJ Pompey tripled to right center with two outs to plate a pair of runs, however, the Red Raiders had just one runner reach base for the rest of the game. Starting pitcher Kyle Robinson suffered the loss after giving up three runs on four hits in 3.2 innings. Owen Washburn led TTU offensively with two hits and a run scored.
UP NEXT: The Vols are back in action tomorrow night when they take on Oklahoma at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on FloBaseball and feature a live audio stream on UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics App.
DID YOU KNOW?: Six players made their UT debuts on the night in Causey, Amick, Bradke Lohry, Cannon Peebles, Dalton Bargo and Robin Villeneuve. Amick, Peebles and Vileneuve all recorded base hits while Causey was the winning pitcher.
STAT OF THE GAME: Of the 27 outs recorded by Russell and Causey, 17 came via strikeout, including a career-high 10 punchouts by Russell.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A Knox County Schools baseball coach at the center of a criminal investigation is now out of a job.
KCS officials confirming that Hardin Valley Academy baseball coach Tyler Roach is no longer with the school system after a criminal investigation.
KCS says Roach had been placed on administrative leave with pay previously as the investigation began.
Officials with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office confirm that it had opened a criminal investigation into Roach, but was unable to give specifics on the matter.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) Another individual is charged with helping suspected cop killer Kenneth DeHart evade police capture for over five days following his flight from a traffic stop on February 8.
Knox County arrest records say 46-year-old Maurice Warren has been charged with accessory after the fact for buying two phones for DeHart who is accused of killing Blount County Deputy Greg McCowan and injuring Deputy Shelby Eggers.
According to the records, Warren bought two phones on February 8 at a store on Ray Mears Boulevard in Knoxville to give to DeHart. Both phones were pre-paid, and Warren reportedly bought them with cash.
DeHart’s brother, Marcus and girlfriend Carrie Matthews are also charged with being accessories after the fact.
Warren is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 5 in Knox County’s felony court.
Officials with the White Pine Fire Department say they have lost of one of their members.
They say Mike Romines, who served for 40 years, died from an ongoing illness. They are asking everyone to keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.
All town flags will be at half staff starting today (Friday) and will remain until he is laid to rest. His funeral announcement has not been released.
Knoxville Police have identified the victim of the deadly shooting on McCalla Avenue.
Police say 50 year-old Sherwin Harris is believed to have been shot following an altercation at the Magnolia Café Wednesday night which continued at the lounge located in the 2200 block of McCalla Avenue where the suspect reportedly shot the victim and left the scene.
Detectives have identified a possible person of interest. Anyone with information is being asked to contact East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers.
The body of Meigs County Deputy Robert “RJ” Leonard has been found.
Officials say Leonard went missing after arresting a woman Wednesday night.
District Attorney Russell Johnson says the woman’s body was found inside his vehicle in the water.
Based on early investigation, it is believed that Leonard took the woman into custody Wednesday on Highway 60, then crashed his car near the Blythe Ferry boat ramp that leads into the river.
They say Leonard texted his wife about the arrest, then radioed to say he had a detainee he was bringing back and then about 12 minutes later, Leonard radioed again, in distress, and said something about water.
Leonard’s car was found in the water near the ramp yesterday, his body not inside but was later found nearby in the water.
The 35-year-old leaves behind a wife and five children.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Lady Vols pushed No. 1 South Carolina to the limit, taking a tie game into the fourth quarter before falling to the undefeated Gamecocks, 66-55, in front of a season-high crowd of 11,073 at Food City Center.
Fifth-year forward Rickea Jackson fired in 19 points to pace Tennessee (15-9, 8-4 SEC) offensively, while junior forward Sara Puckett contributed 15 points and fifth-year guard Jasmine Powell added 12 along with her team-high eight rebounds.
South Carolina (24-0, 11-0 SEC) was led by 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso, who notched a double-double effort of 18 points and 10 boards. Ashlyn Watkins added a double-double as well, tallying 14 points and 10 caroms, while Raven Johnson hauled down a game-high 15 rebounds.
South Carolina jumped out to a 4-0 lead early, but the Lady Vols stormed back with a pair of layups by Powell and another from Jackson to go up 6-4 at the 6:21 mark. After Cardoso tied it up at six, UT reeled off an 8-2 run, with a bucket by Tamari Key, consecutive layups from Puckett and a jumper by Jackson making it 14-8 with 2:43 to go in the first quarter. The Gamecocks clawed back, however, scoring the last seven points of the period, capped by a MiLaysia Fulwiley three-pointer just before the buzzer, to take a 15-14 lead after one.
Powell started Tennessee off right in the second, pushing the ball in transition, generating a lay-up and converting an old-fashioned three-point play to boost her team back in front, 17-15, with 9:23 to go. Jackson counter-punched as well, connecting on a trey to retake the lead, 20-19, at the 8:29 mark. A layup by Cardoso sent the Gamecocks into the media timeout with a 22-20 advantage. Coming out of the break, Jackson tallied three buckets and Puckett added another to stake the Lady Vols to a 28-23 lead with 29 seconds to go. South Carolina’s Watkins ended the first-half scoring on a layup, however, sending UT into the locker room with a 28-25 edge.
USC tallied twice to open the second half and take a 29-28 lead, but Powell scored on a layup to push her team back on top 30-29 with 8:28 to go in the quarter. The teams continued to exchange leads before a Jackson fall-away jumper and a Puckett layup sent Tennessee into the media timeout at the 4:11 mark with a 41-39 cushion. The Gamecocks surged ahead, 46-43, on a layup by Sania Feagin with 2:53 to go in the period, but the Big Orange outscored USC 5-2 the rest of the way on a trio of Karoline Striplin free throws and another pair by Jackson just before the end of the period to even the score at 48.
The Gamecocks struck first again in the final frame, stepping ahead 52-48 by the 7:51 mark. After a UT timeout, the Lady Vols got a free throw from Powell to cut the gap to three before a 5-0 USC burst gave the visitors a 57-49 lead with 5:21 to go. A Puckett put-back trimmed the deficit to 57-51 heading into the media timeout with 4:30 remaining, but South Carolina built its lead to 62-51 before Jillian Hollingshead tossed home a pair of free throws with 2:07 remaining to stem the run. A Puckett step-back with 58 ticks left was UT’s final tally of the evening in the 11-point loss.
Up Next: Tennessee hits the road this weekend, facing Vanderbilt (19-7, 6-6 SEC) in Nashville on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET). The Lady Vols and Commodores are slated to meet in Memorial Gymnasium in a match-up televised by SEC Network and carried statewide on Lady Vol Network stations and streamed via UTSports.com.
Stifling Defense Out of the Gates: In the first half of Thursday’s game, the Lady Vols held the nation’s third-best scoring offense to just 25 points, its lowest-scoring half of the season. During the second quarter, the Gamecocks tallied 10 points which tied the lowest in a quarter this season and was the fewest in a second quarter. South Carolina shot 33.3% during the half and committed nine turnovers.
The Key To Defense: With two blocks tonight, Tamari Key moved into seventh all-time in the SEC for career blocks. The redshirt senior from Cary, North Carolina, has totaled 33 blocks this season and 328 for her career.
Keeping Things Low: The Big Orange held the top-ranked Gamecocks to their SEC-low point total of 66 on Thursday night. The 66 points also stands as the second fewest by USC this season. Tennessee achieved that in part by keeping South Carolina at bay from deep, holding the visitors to another SEC-low two-made field goals from long range.
Sparking The Summitt: Tonight’s contest against the Gamecocks at Food City Center attracted 11,073 fans. The crowd was a season best and is the most for a UT home game since UConn visited on Jan. 26, 2023, with 13,804 spectators seeing the Lady Vols take on the Huskies. In addition, the attendance was the largest in an SEC contest since Feb. 27, 2022, when a crowd of 11,613 saw the Big Orange face off against LSU.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) The Knoxville Police Department has released surveillance footage of the vehicle suspected in a hit-and-run Sunday in the Old City.
KPD says a silver sedan is believed to have struck and seriously injured a 28-year-old woman just before 3:00 Sunday morning at South Central Street near Willow Avenue.
(Courtesy: KPD on ‘X’)
Police say the driver reportedly fled the scene, and the woman was transported to UT Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Police are asking anyone with information to call East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers at 865-215-7165. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
Blount County, TN (WOKI) Marcus DeHart, the brother of Kenneth DeHart, the man suspected of shooting a Blount County deputy and killing another, is out of jail.
The Blount County Clerk’s Office confirming DeHart’s release on bond Thursday afternoon.
Blount County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Greg McCowan and Shelby Eggers stopped Kenneth DeHart Thursday night, BCSO officials said, when things escalated and shots were fired.
Marcus DeHart was charged with accessory after the fact; he is accused of helping harbor his brother, who he would have known was on the run from police.
Marcus’ bond was set at $1 million. He’s due back in court on March 25.
