Sophia Nugent's RBI-double in extra innings gives Tennessee softball top-10 win over Clemson

Knoxville News Sentinel

Sophia Nugent is wasting no time making her impact felt for Tennessee softball.

The junior catcher, who transferred from Oklahoma, drilled a ball into the center field wall in the ninth inning against No. 10 Clemson (12-5) on Tuesday in South Carolina. Her double brought senior outfielder Rylie West home to give the No. 8 Lady Vols (14-4) the a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, and eventually, the win.

Tennessee got a much-needed win in extra innings thanks to Nugent's clutch hitting – she had a full count and two outs on the board when she hit the game-winning double. She has started in 16 of the Lady Vols' 18 games this season and is second on the team in RBIs (13) and has hit three home runs.

Senior center fielder Kiki Milloy was responsible for Tennessee's other RBI-double that put the Lady Vols up 1-0 in the third before Clemson tied it up in the fourth. Milloy went 2-for-4 against Clemson two-way star Valerie Cagle, who is the reigning USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.

Tennessee's win over Clemson was a pitchers' duel for most of the game. Graduate pitcher Payton Gottshall started for the Lady Vols before being relieved in the fourth by Karlyn Pickens. The sophomore was dealing against the Tigers, and got the win against them once again – Pickens threw a complete-game shutout in Tennessee's 1-0 win over Clemson last season.

Junior catcher Sophia Nugent steps to the plate for Tennessee softball at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville.

Gottshall only allowed three hits and struck out two batters. Cagle played all nine innings and struck out 10 and only allowed five hits, but that was all Tennessee needed.

Pickens (8-2) earned the win for UT, striking out four and only allowing three hits in six innings of work. Pickens, who was the SEC Freshman of the Year last season, has already tossed the second perfect game of her career against Loyola Marymount on Feb. 23. Her only losses came against to No. 2 Texas and No. 16 UCLA. Pickens has an 0.82 ERA and 68 strikeouts this season.

Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.