Tennessee beat its second-ranked opponent of the week with a 4-1 victory against FSU.
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Tenth-ranked Tennessee beat its second ranked team on Thursday, handing No. 8 Florida State a 4-1 loss in its second game at the Mary Nutter Classic in Palm Springs. UT is now 11-0 on the season.
Earlier in the day, Tennessee beat No. 23 Notre Dame 8-4 to open action on the West Coast.
Junior pitcher Erin Gabriel tossed a complete game five-hitter to move to 4-0 on the season. Gabriel fanned six batters, allowing one walk in spinning her seventh career complete game.
Tennessee scored single runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings to post its first win against a top-10 foe this season. Last season, the Lady Vols beat top-10 teams on six occasions on the way to the Super Regionals.
Three of the four runs scored by UT came across the plate without a hit.
The Lady Vols first got on the board scoring without the benefit of a hit in the fourth inning. Florida State walked four consecutive Tennessee hitters: Rainey Gaffin, Annie Aldrete and Taylor Koenig before Megan Geer's bases loaded walk brought home Gaffin for a 1-0 lead.
Tennessee scored its second run on a sacrifice fly as Aldrete brought home Meghan Gregg in the fifth.
In the sixth, Lexi Overstreet's short single back to the pitcher brought home Geer for a 3-0 Tennessee lead.
The fourth run scored on a groundout double play as Geer's hot shot to third base brought home Gaffin for the 4-0 advantage.
The Seminoles mustered one run in the bottom of the seventh on a pair of hits.
Florida State fell to 7-4 on the season as the Seminoles have faced seven top-20 teams in their first 11 games.
