No. 15 Clemson Stuns No. 1 Tennessee in Extra-Inning Thriller
A pair of aces went head-to-head tonight as Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens and Clemson’s Reese Basinger started Tuesday’s top-15 matchup. Clemson capitalized on Tennessee’s untimely errors and Brooke McCubbin’s relief effort to stun the top-ranked Lady Vols, 4-3.
The first two innings of the game saw no baserunners for either side. In the third, former Lady Vol Jamison Brockenbrough broke up Pickens’ no-hit bid but was left stranded. In the home half, Tennessee notched the game’s first run. After an Ella Dodge leadoff single and a Clemson error, Basinger induced a pair of pop-ups. However, Taylor Pannell worked a full count and singled to center, scoring Dodge from second. No change in the fourth inning had the Lady Vols leading 1-0 heading into the fifth.
In the top of the fifth, a hit-by-pitch, a Taylor Pipkins single and a walk loaded the bases with one out. Then, Pickens struck out Brockenbrough for the second out of the inning. On a 1-2 count, Alex Brown sent a groundball back to Pickens, but a throwing error scored three unearned runs for Clemson, giving the Tigers a 3-1 lead. A Tennessee double in the home half did no damage after Basinger struck out Pannell to end the fifth.
Pickens held the Clemson bats at bay in the sixth, giving the Lady Vols’ heart of the order a chance to spark a comeback. Back-to-back singles from McKenna Gibson and Sophia Nugent, along with some heads-up baserunning, moved two runners into scoring position with no outs. Two pitches later, Gabby Leach laced a one-out single to tie the game at 3-3. After Leach’s single, McCubbin relieved Basinger and retired the final two batters to keep the game tied.
Into the seventh, Pickens continued to mow down the Clemson batters, retiring seven in a row en route to a scoreless inning.
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Kinsey Fiedler reached on a one-out walk but could not score, sending the game into extras. The eighth followed suit, with all six batters in the inning going down in order.
To lead off the ninth, Clemson’s Macey Cintron walked, breaking a streak of 10 straight batters retired by Pickens. Following the walk, Aby Vieira worked a nine-pitch at-bat that ended with her reaching on a Tennessee error. A groundout then moved both Tiger runners into scoring position. On a 2-2 count, Pipkens lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring the go-ahead run for the Tigers. To end the top half, Pickens recorded her eighth strikeout of the game.
Dodge led off the home half of the ninth with a walk. Attempting to sacrifice bunt, a Tennessee baserunning miscue ended up not moving Dodge from first. Instead, resulting in an unproductive out. In the nine-hole, Saviya Morgan slapped a single through the left side, moving the tying run to second base. With Fiedler due up, a sharply hit ball to center was caught by Brockenbrough and thrown back to second, doubling off Dodge to end the game in dramatic fashion.
Pickens earned the loss and surrendered four runs, but all were unearned. McCubbin gets the win in the circle, tossing four scoreless innings in relief. With the victory, No. 15 Clemson notches a huge resume win, boosting their hosting hopes. For Tennessee, the Lady Vols lost for just the second time in their last eight games and will meet No. 19 Ole Miss this weekend.
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