CLEARWATER, Fla. — No. 3 Tennessee softball dropped both games on day one of the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational on Friday night, losing to both No. 13 Stanford and No. 2 Texas at Eddie C. Moore Field in Clearwater, Fla.
The Lady Vols had a chance to split the day against an unbeaten Texas team, but the rally fell short in a 2-1 loss to the Longhorns.
Texas scored one run in each of the first two innings, and Tennessee found their first run of the day when Sophia Nugent's RBI single in the fourth inning drove in Rylie West to cut the deficit to one run, but Tennessee couldn't keep it going and closed that inning with runners on the corners and could not find another run for the remainder of the game.
Sophia Nugent and Destiny Rodriguez each tallied two hits for the Lady Vols against the Longhorns, while sophomore pitcher Karlyn Pickens went the distance with six strikeouts, six hits allowed and one earned run in six innings of work.
The Lady Vols began the Clearwater Invitational with a 1-0 loss to No. 13 Stanford in a defensive struggle for their first loss of the season.
Stanford got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when Ava Gall hit an RBI double off of Payton Gottshall with two outs, and the lone run stood up in the Cardinal's victory.
Gottshall threw all six innings for Tennessee and allowed just two hits along with the deciding run, while striking out four batters and walking three.
Tennessee was held to five hits in the defeat, but McKenna Gibson's two hits made her the only player in the game with a multi-hit effort.
On Saturday, the Lady Vols' game against Georgia Tech was canceled mid-game due to inclement weather conditions. The Lady Vols will resume play in The Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational against Florida State on Sunday at 8 p.m.
