Notebook: Lady Vols win series against Alabama, look to future

JACK CHURCH Staff Writer

No. 3 Tennessee earned a series win over No. 13 Alabama, winning two out of three games at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

Although a 20-game win streak was broken in Saturday’s loss, the Lady Vols are still leading the SEC by half a game over Georgia.

Here are three takeaways from the weekend.

Saturday loss re-centered focus

After Saturday’s 4-2 loss, head coach Karen Weekly was very critical of the batting lineup.

“I think we’ve gotten a little bit comfortable with our pitchers dealing remarkable games and keeping the zero on the scoreboard,” Weekly said. “It was good that we got in that position, because I think we learned what not to do. After that first inning, we might have relaxed a bit, thinking we were going to roll. You can never expect something to happen.”

In Sunday’s game, the lineup responded in a big way, scoring seven runs on a day where the pitching performance needed some help.

“It’s really big because early in the game it felt like they were starting right where they left off yesterday,” Weekly said. “We had to muster up a lot of guts to find a way to get back in that game.”

Milloy returns to form

After entering a slump last week against LSU, Kiki Milloy recorded three hits on eight at-bats, including a three-run home run on Sunday that gave Tennessee the lead. Milloy’s performance, especially on Sunday, was crucial to Tennessee winning the series.

“It felt great just to get on the board,” Milloy said after Sunday’s game. “We had no runs at that time. Getting those runs on the board, getting that insurance for our pitchers, that felt good.”

Weekly was also impressed with Milloy’s performance on Sunday.

“Big time players step up in big time games, and Kiki Milloy sure did that for us,” Weekly said.

Milloy, who has started all 28 of Tennessee’s games this season, leads the team in both batting average (.449) and home runs (14). Milloy was also named a Torchbearer, the highest student award that can be given to a Tennessee undergraduate.

ETSU up next

The Lady Vols will meet the East Tennes- see State Buccaneers, who are 7-21 on the year. ETSU has an 0-3 conference record after being swept by UNC-Greensboro on the weekend.

ETSU’s leading batter is Cameron Young, who has started all 28 games for the Buccaneers. Young has a .348 batting average and seven runs batted in. As a team, ETSU bats .251 and has 13 home runs this season.

The leading pitcher for the Buccaneers is Sara Muir, who in 34.1 innings pitched has allowed 13 earned runs, good for an ERA of 2.65. As a team, ETSU has a 4.85 ERA and a WHIP of 1.77.

The two opponents will play on Tuesday evening at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.