Coach Karen Weekly had pointed words for her team despite two wins over Kentucky – have productive at-bats and score sooner. The Lady Vols got the message and scored six runs in the first inning Monday night with 10 batters going to the plate.

Erin Nuwer, 14-1, got the win for No. 6 Tennessee (37-6, 12-6) and scattered six hits with five strikeouts in five innings with just one earned run. Sage Mardjetko pitched the final two innings and struck out three batters.

“I thought we flipped the switch on the slow starts, really dominated,” Weekly said after Monday’s win at John Cropp Stadium. “Pregame, they talked about being dogs, and I thought you could see a difference in our swings. We were swinging with conviction, and it made all the difference in the world in that first inning and the first few innings.”

Leadoff batter Gabby Leach reached on an infield error, and Ella Dodge sent the first pitch she saw over the left field wall for a 2-0 lead with just two pitches thrown. Emma Clarke walked on six pitches, and Alannah Leach worked the count to 3-2 and then sent a shot over the right field wall for a 4-0 score. That led to a change in the circle for the Wildcats with McKenzie Oslanzi replacing Sarah Haendiges.

Elsa Morrison singled through the left side, and Taelyn Holley reached on a fielder’s choice with Morrison out at first. Holley stole second after a strikeout, and Maddi Rutan singled through the left side to bring home Holley for a 5-0 lead. Rutan advanced to second on the throw and then to third on a passed ball. Bella Faw hit a hard shot to third for a single to bring Rutan home for a 6-0 score before the Wildcats finally got off the field.

Kentucky brought a third pitcher to the circle in freshman Hailey Nutter to start the second inning. Alannah Leach sent the fourth pitch she saw over the wall in right center for a 7-0 score, but Nutter got a popup and two groundouts to end the inning.

In the third inning, Clarke doubled to the wall in left center with two outs to bring home Dodge and Rutan for a 9-0 lead. The long at-bats for Tennessee also meant the pitcher had a long stint in the dugout.

“I think the challenge there is the time,” Weekly said. “When you’re putting up runs, you get some long innings. That’s more of the challenge for a pitcher. They like having some runs and a little bit of cushion. I think that gives them some freedom when they throw, but it’s more about managing those long innings.”

Carly Sleeman got Kentucky on the scoreboard in the third with a solo homer to left center, and the Wildcats added two more runs for a 9-3 score on three balls that weren’t hit hard but found holes with backspin and off the end of the bat.

Rutan got one back with a solo homer to center for a 10-3 lead in the fourth. With two on and two out, Kentucky used a fourth pitcher, Abby Hammond, to face Clarke, who walked to load the bases. Freshman Meredith Barnhart got in a 0-2 count, worked it full and then struck out looking on a well-placed inside pitch in an eight-pitch at-bat.

Kentucky kept Tennessee off the scoreboard for the first time in the fifth inning. Nuwer answered in the bottom of fifth for the Lady Vols by striking out the side. The Lady Vols got a runner to second in the sixth but not across the plate.

Mardjetko entered the circle in the sixth inning for Tennessee and walked the leadoff batter but smoked the second hitter with a rise ball strikeout and got a double play to end it.

Tennessee threatened again in the seventh – and ended up with 10 hits for the game – and Mardjetko closed the game with a strikeout, flyout and strikeout.

Tennessee had opened the series in Lexington with two wins by scores of 5-0 and 6-0, but the majority of the runs came in the latter half of the game. Karlyn Pickens threw a no-hitter in the first game, and Mardjetko got the win in the second game with five innings of work, before Pickens closed out the game for a save.

Pickens’ no-hitter was celebrated on the scoreboard at the Vols’ Orange & White to much applause from those at Neyland Stadium last Saturday.

“I am disappointed that we didn’t mount a bigger threat sooner,” Weekly said after Sunday’s win. “Not enough good at bats. Too many times with runners on base, we didn’t do something productive. We told them in the huddle, and actually Karlyn was the one that called it out. Karlyn said, ‘Don’t anybody be happy with that. We have higher goals.’ ”

The Lady Vols flipped the offensive script Monday night as the end of the regular season draws near. Tennessee will step out of conference this week with a short-turnaround at Duke this Wednesday, April 15, with game time set for 7 p.m. Eastern and the broadcast on ESPN2.

Tennessee has its bye in SEC play this coming weekend and then will host Radford on April 21 before the final two regular season SEC series against Alabama in Knoxville on April 25-27, a Saturday-Monday format, and at Missouri on April 3-May 2, a Thursday-Saturday format.

No. 12 Duke is 31-12 overall and 15-3 in the ACC. The game at Smith Family Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, is a sellout in a matchup of top 15 teams.

Tennessee’s trio of pitchers, Pickens, Mardjetko and Nuwer, all got wins at Kentucky without having to log excessive innings.

“A really important game this time of year and certainly knowing that we’re not playing a series this weekend, it’s definitely going to be all hands on deck,” Weekly said. “We’ve got some really good arms to go into that situation and  feel like we can use everybody. The way we managed them this weekend, everybody’s going to be fresh.

“I’m excited about going over there. It’s going to be a sellout, hostile environment. And that’s what we need this time of year, continue to be put in the fire and see what happens.”

Maria M. Cornelius, a senior writer/editor at MoxCar Marketing + Communications since 2013, started her journalism career at the Knoxville News Sentinel and began writing about the Lady Vols in 1998. In 2016, she published her first book, “The Final Season: The Perseverance of Pat Summitt,” through The University of Tennessee Press and a 10th anniversary edition will be released June 16, 2026.