Weekly Calls Rutan Performance “MVP” as Lady Vols Rally Past No. 17 LSU
Lady Vols Are Mentally Tough
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — When you are 22-0, there will eventually come a time where you’ll have to deal with some adversity. How you respond is the main question, and for some the answer isn’t so great. But for the No. 1 Tennessee Lady Vols, they handled it well against the No. 17 LSU Tigers on Saturday at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
After falling down 4-0 in the first inning, the Tigers immediately got to Erin Nuwer, including a three-run shot by Maci Bergeron. Some wondered if today would be the day, but it was way too early for that mindset.
A mindset that the Lady Vols never had. The hunger, determination, and energy was there, and before you knew it things started to happen.
“They’re tough. They’re really tough. They’re selfless,” Karen Weekly said postgame. “I mean, you can hear our dugout the whole game. All 22 of them just pulling for each other, and it’s a really fun team to be around, and I’ve felt that way since the fall.”
After Nuwer’s tough first inning, the Lady Vols went to Maddi Rutan in the circle, and she came out with good stuff. She mixed well, striking out Ally Hutchins to start the second inning.
After an Avery Hodge single, and with Lassiter at bat, Elsa Morrison showed her arm for the second time this game with a caught stealing at second.
Rutan then followed with a strikeout for her second of the inning to get the Lady Vols’ offense back out to try and cut into the lead.
That is where the tides started to change in favor of Tennessee. Rutan came in and brought the fiery energy in the circle, and freshman Elsa Morrison was huge, throwing out attempted steals. LSU’s success in the stolen base department was non-existent, as they finished the day with zero.
Weekly praised Morrison’s work behind the plate.
“Elsa did a phenomenal job today, ’cause they were trying to run on off-speed pitches and she did a great job of not letting that speed her up and just made bullet throws.”
With the Lady Vols back at the plate, Gabby Leach worked Clopton for a six-pitch at-bat that ended with a solo shot for her first of the day to make it 4-1, LSU.
Rutan continued her important outing, and LSU had trouble timing her up. Her ability to go from 68 to 55 and back to 68 was keeping LSU off balance, and she struck out four of the first seven batters she faced.
Sophia Knight and Ella Dodge fired up the bats again in the bottom of the third for Tennessee, with back-to-back singles. The Lady Vols were in a great spot with no outs, and that would do it for Clopton.
LSU went to Cece Cellura to try and change the fortunes for the Tigers. They were on the verge of losing this lead even more and needed someone that could stop the leak before a full-on bust.
But with a 2-0 pitch, Elsa Morrison put one through for a two-RBI single to cut the Tigers’ lead to 4-3. She advanced to second on the throw to get into scoring position, and momentum had fully swung Tennessee’s way.
Cellura had trouble settling in and proceeded to walk Makenzie Butt to put another on with Taelyn Holley coming up to bat. She laid down an unselfish sac bunt to move runners over. Then an RBI single from Gabby Leach to score Zoie Shuler tied things up.
Tennessee at this point had taken full momentum and didn’t give it back. After a Clarke groundout, Maddi Rutan came up to have the ultimate shot to help herself, and that is what she did. On a 1-2 count, Rutan drilled an RBI double to put Tennessee up 6-4, and then she would come in herself on a Bella Faw RBI single to extend the lead to 7-4.
LSU wouldn’t go away altogether. Lassiter and Char Lorenz connected for two solo shots to bring it back within one.
What had been a good outing for Rutan with six strikeouts ended with Erin Nuwer returning to take the ball with two outs in the fifth. Rutan was fantastic, and she steadied the ship for Tennessee. In 14 batters faced, six of them were strikeouts.
Weekly called it the performance of the game.
“There were so many good things today, but that would have to be my MVP performance because if she doesn’t come in and hold them and give us a chance, if they keep putting runs on and we’re playing catch up the whole time, that’s just a different game to play.”
Weekly also noted that Rutan hadn’t thrown since week two at Clearwater, making the outing even more impressive.
“She gave our offense a chance to get rolling, and it was absolutely huge. And she’s so fun to watch out there. Just her passion, her joy, her excitement.”
Taelyn Holley would not be outdone by the Tigers and led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer off the board herself to extend the lead to 8-6. The balls were flying today, and with the great wind that blew out, I had a feeling the day would have its share of home runs.
That brought Paytn Monticelli into the game. Monticelli had only given up one home run coming into today, and that is the type of pitcher LSU needed in this game particularly. However, Gabby Leach came through with a leadoff single, and Emma Clarke just missed a homer to left off the wall to continue the offensive outburst from Tennessee.
Weekly credited hitting coach Craig Snyder for the offensive preparation.
“A lot of credit goes to Craig Snyder for the preparation and having them ready, knowing what the plan is. He does a good job of creating those plans and getting them to buy in. And that’s what you saw today.”
The Lady Vols’ bats were awake, and it didn’t matter who LSU threw at them. The Lady Vols scored 11 runs in the game, and they wrapped up the scoring in the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back homers from the Leach sisters.
Allanah Leach rocked a two-run shot off the scoreboard to give the Lady Vols a 10-6 lead, and Gabby Leach added her second of the day to make it 11-6. That was the fourth homer for Tennessee and seventh total in the game between the two teams. Even more of a special moment, as Allanah and Gabby homered in the same game for the first time ever.
“What a cool thing for them. Just sisters and twins,” Weekly said. “They weren’t home run hitters in high school. And to see how that part of their game has developed.”
For Nuwer, she returned to the game in the bottom of the fifth inning after LSU hit those solo shots, and she closed the game out. She did not want to go out with the way things turned out in the first inning. It was nice to see her be able to come back in and relieve Rutan to return the favor, so to speak.
Weekly revealed the conversation she had with Nuwer when she pulled her.
“When I took her out, she was like, ‘I got this now.’ And I said, ‘I know you do, and I need you to have that feeling and be ready, ’cause I have a feeling you’re gonna go back in at some point in time.'”
This Lady Vols team showed today that even as an undefeated team and No. 1 in the nation, the hunger is still there to win and compete. This team takes no days off, and even without Karlyn Pickens, the Lady Vols have clinched an SEC series win over LSU.
“Nobody’s seen Karlyn for two days and we still went out and won two ball games,” Weekly said. “Karlyn gets a lot of the attention and rightfully so. She’s a huge part of this program, but to me, that just speaks to the selflessness and how tough they are.”
Weekly also shared the mindset of this group. They are focused as can be, and just has the goal of winning each and every day.
“I really think they don’t think about being 22 and 0, you know, and I wish you guys would stop reminding them of that. Yeah, I’m kidding, everybody reminds them,” Weekly said jokingly.
“I think we talk every day about we’re 0-0. That’s literally the last thing we say before we leave the building over there to come in for pre-game. And I think they’re just hungry to go out and play that day and hungry to go out and problem solve.”
“The day’s gonna come where we’re gonna lose a ball game. But like I told ’em early in the game today, when that day happens, I want us to be able to look each other in the eye and say, we competed. We competed our tails off.”
The Lady Vols will go for the series sweep on Sunday afternoon, at 2:00 PM ET on SEC Network.
