The Lady Ospreys held a 4-3 lead going into the final inning, but No. 16 ranked Tennessee belted two home runs and capitalized on UNF errors to score six runs and escape with the 9-4 win Wednesday night.

UNF softball Head Coach Marcie Hickey talked about the final inning.

“Well I think the big thing for us in the seventh inning was that we made one mistake and let it turn into three.” Hickey said. “Ball got by the outfielder and instead of like picking it up and throwing it into a defender we just kind of chucked it into the middle of the field, and then we had a chance on that second runner on the throw back to the plate and threw it wide.”

UNF’s opening batter Navia Penrod was hit by a pitch to start the game at the plate. Later in the inning an errant throw by Tennessee second baseman Aubrey Leach allowed two runs to score in the bottom of the first, and another error by first baseman Lockman in the fourth sent an additional run home.

Video by Joslyn Simmons

Tennessee scored its first run at the top of the fourth and carried the momentum into fifth inning to score the tying run. The Ospreys responded in the bottom of the sixth when Lexi Taylor drove home a run with a single to break the tie for a 4-3 lead.

“I just went up to bat relaxed and knew I had to put the ball on the plate for my team to score a run.” Taylor said.

During the seventh, the Volunteers strung together six runs with a single, three-base error, two-run home run and a solo home run.

Tennessee went through three pitching changes, and senior Rainey Gaffin earned the win.

UNF had eight hits and two errors, compared to Tennessee’s 13 hits and two errors.

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