Just two weeks into the season we’ve already seen some amazing pitching–and pitchers–step up and dominate.
Washington’s Gabbie Plain is 4-0 and has struck out 24 of the last 32 batters she has faced to rank as one of the strikeout leaders in the nation, Montana Fouts of Alabama and Lexi Kilfoyl of Alabama are both 4-0 and looking red-hot.
Others who are undefeated include Sydney Sanchez (Utah), Mary Wilson Avant (Georgia), Katie Chronister (Florida) and Autumn Humes (Kentucky), the latter three all in the SEC which should make for a fun season!
Also, Virginia Tech’s Keely Rochard is among the nation’s leaders in victories with a 5-1 mark; same for Payton Gottshall of Bowling Green who leads the D1 division in strikeouts.
Another from the SEC we’re rooting for is Tennessee’s Ashley Rogers who, as we noted in a Throwback Thursday article earlier this month, is back and looking as strong as ever after not pitching since 2019.
Wednesday she put herself into early talk of Pitcher of the Year consideration… check out the big game she produced…
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The following info courtesy of Tennessee Sports Information
A career pitching night by junior ace Ashley Rogers lifted No. RV/23/24 Tennessee past a determined Illinois State team, 3-0, on Wednesday night at Sherri Parker Lee.
Rogers fanned 17 batters, which ties for the second-best performance in the nation this season, as she worked her way through a no-hitter through 5.0 innings. The hallmark was one strikeout shy of tying for the eighth-best single-game performance in program history – achieved on six occasions and only by Monica Abbott.
“Ashley was the story tonight,” said co-head coach Karen Weekly of the Athens, Tenn., native. “It’s good to come off a weekend like we had with so many games for her to get some rest and come out incredibly strong like she did today.”
Rogers, who sat out all of the 2020 season due to a temporary injury, leads the Lady Vols pitching corps with a 0.50 ERA and 4-1 record. The righthander has recorded 52 strikeouts, which is the second most in the country at the moment.
While UT relied on Rogers’ stuff, the Redbirds ace Morgan Day was impressive in her own right making it difficult for the Lady Vols to get on base. She retired five batters at the plate in 5.0 innings and gave up just two walks.
“That’s a really good team with Day on the mound,” said Weekly. “We knew tonight was going to be a pitcher’s duel. We have faced some really good pitchers. It doesn’t matter what the name is on your chest.”
After two scoreless innings, the Lady Vols brought in the first run on an RBI single from senior shortstop Ivy Davis (2-for-2), who has reached base each of the nine games this season, to get Kaitlin Parsons (1-for-3) across the plate.
Sophomore Kiki Milloy (1-for-3) led off the third with a no-doubter to double the score quickly and give UT some insurance and then Davis came home off the bat of junior catcher Ally Shipman (1-for-3) in the bottom of the fifth to round out scoring.
“I was pretty pleased with what we did at the plate,” Weekly added. “We knew tonight was going to tough.”
The Lady Vols tallied eight hits, but left seven runners on base.
Up Next: UT opens its slate of the Tennessee Invitational Thursday evening at 5 p.m. ET, facing UT-Martin. The Lady Vols will also see Northern Kentucky (12:30 p.m.) and Central Michigan (3 p.m.) on Saturday, before concluding the four-day tournament against the Chippewas at noon.
All contests that include Tennessee will be broadcast on the SECN+, except for Wednesday’s solo matchup with Illinois State. Thursday’s outing will be called by Michael Wottreng (PxP). Saturday’s games will be covered by Madison Shipman (Analysis) and Will Boling (PxP) and Sunday’s contest will pair up Shipman and Wottreng.
