Tennessee, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, improved to 3-0 all time against Dayton. Dayton lost 9-0 to Tennessee in the 2015 season opener and 3-1 in 2016.
Tennessee took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Destiny Rodriguez hit what would have been a three-run home run, but she passed the runner on first base as she rounded first. She was called out and recorded a single instead. The two runners on base scored.
Tennessee added a run in the fifth.
Dayton was limited to two hits by Nicolette Papavasiliou and Kaelene Walter. Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens struck out 12 in seven innings.
Dayton (33-20) will play Miami (48-8) in an elimination game at 3:30 p.m Saturday. Virginia (33-18) will play Tennessee (41-10) at 1 p.m. The winner of the Dayton-Miami game will then play the loser of the Virginia-Tennessee game at 6 p.m. Saturday.
In the first game Friday at the Knoxville regional, Virginia’s Eden Bigham pitched a complete game two-hit shutout against Miami, striking out 10.
Hadley Parisien and Kate Kobayashi collected Miami’s only hits.
Miami’s 12-game winning streak ended with the loss. The RedHawks were shut out for the first time this season. They scored at least one run in their previous 68 games. They had not been shutout since April 26, 2023.
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