Hammond’s Strong Start Not Enough as Tennessee Claims Series
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Freshman pitcher Abby Hammond allowed just two runs on three hits in six innings of work Sunday night but the offense fell quiet as No. 9 Tennessee beat Kentucky 6-0 at John Cropp Stadium to claim the series win over the Wildcats.
Game three of the series will be Monday night at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network with Chuckie Kempf on the call alongside Jenny Dalton-Hill with head coach Rachel Lawson mic’d up for ‘Mic’d Up Monday’.
Hammond was sensational in the circle, throwing by far her best outing in Southeastern Conference play with a six inning performance allowing only two runs on three hits, a strikeout and three walks to the 26 batters she faced. The freshman from Lexington, Kentucky threw 99 pitches in the game and 54 of those were recorded as strikes.
Kentucky’s offense had three hits in the game as both Karissa Hamilton and Alexa Riddel logged doubles to put runners in scoring position and Peyton Plotts had Kentucky’s first hit of the series with a single to lead off the bottom of the third to left field.
Tennessee is now 36-6 on the season and sits 11-6 in SEC play. Kentucky is now 24-21 and 1-16 in the SEC.
Run Recap
Tennessee scored on the first of two Kentucky errors in the top of the third inning to take the lead. UT 1, UK 0
With Kentucky within a run, Tennessee scored on an RBI single up the middle with two outs by Taelyn Holley to double the lead. UT 2, UK 0
In the top of the seventh, Tennessee scored four runs on four hits and worked around the second Kentucky error to put the game out of reach. FINAL – Tennessee 6, Kentucky 0
Key Player
The key player in the game for UK was Abby Hammond.
Key Moment
The key moment was Tennessee’s two-run single off the bat of Alannah Leach in the top of the seventh to increase the Lady Vols lead to 4-0.
Key Stat
- All four of Kentucky’s runners in the game were left stranded on base.
Pitching Recap
Hammond got the start and went the opening six innings. McKenzie Oslanzi and Sarah Haendiges pitched in relief with Haendiges getting the final out on a strikeout in the seventh.
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