Kavan, No. 1 Texas blank No. 10 Tennessee
Teagan Kavan and Karlyn Pickens headlined Friday Night Lights at Red & Charline McCombs Field, but Kavan stole the show for multiple reasons. The Texas ace tossed a complete game as the top-ranked Longhorns beat No. 10 Tennessee 3-0.
Kavan started the game shaky, walking two of the first three batters she faced. After a quick conference with Reese Atwood, she settled in. She struck out McKenna Gibson and Sophia Nugent to end the threat in the first inning.
Pickens handled the first inning well too, striking out Kayden Henry and Atwood. However, that’s all we would see of her. Karen Weekly went to Erin Nuwer to start the second. Weekly told the ESPN broadcast crew this was the plan and Pickens was not hurt, which, based on her jogging and joking with teammates in between innings, solidified that.
After Pickens’ departure, Texas got to Nuwer in the third inning. The Longhorns had four straight hits, but none were hit very hard. Henry chopped a ball over the head of Taylor Pannell at third base for a double to put two runners in scoring position. Mia Scott poked a ball to the right side of the infield to bring Ashton Maloney. Henry then scored when Scott took off for second and Nuwer threw the ball to second. Atwood hit a ball up the middle, bouncing off second base to extend the lead to three.
As for Kavan, she left that first inning behind her. She had excellent zip of her rise and mixing in the changeup in key situations. Kavan retired the first two quickly in the third before walking back-to-back batters to bring Gibson back to the plate. Kavan won the battle again, painting the inside corner on a full count to get Gibson looking.
Tennessee didn’t record a hit until the sixth inning. Kinsley Fiedler lined a single to open the frame. Pannell placed one perfectly into right field to put two on with no outs. Kavan got Gibson to pop up and then rolled an inning-ending double play.
Kavan ended the night throwing a two-hitter, striking out eight.
The two meet again on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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