KNOXVILLE - A young Tennessee softball team had eight days to put the sting of an early exit at the Southeastern Conference tournament behind it and regroup to host another postseason event with bigger stakes.
So far, so good.
The Volunteers beat Longwood 5-0 Friday night at Lee Stadium, advancing to the winners' side of an NCAA regional. Tennessee faces a quick turnaround in the double-elimination event with a noon game today against the University of South Carolina-Upstate, which defeated Ohio State 7-3 in Friday's opening game in Knoxville.
"It was definitely a good win," said Tennessee shortstop Meghan Gregg, a national player of the year finalist. "We came into this game wanting to be crisp. We had a team meeting and set team goals before this. They were little goals that actually make really big results. That's what we focused on, were those little things to get momentum on our side."
NCAA regional
At KnoxvilleFriday› Game 1: USC Upstate 7, Ohio State 3› Game 2: Tennessee 5, Longwood 0Saturday› Game 3: Tennessee vs. USC Upstate, noon› Game 4: Ohio State vs. Longwood, 2:30 p.m.› Game 5: G3 loser vs. G4 winner, 5 p.m.Sunday› Game 6: G3 winner vs. G5 winner, noon› Game 7 (if necessary): G6 winner vs. G6 loser, 2:30 p.m.
The Vols (45-10) fired up their offense early against two-time Big South pitcher of the year Elizabeth McCarthy. Aubrey Leach led off the bottom of the first with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored the game's first run on a single from the second batter.
That was freshman Jenna Holcomb, who delivered on her career's biggest stage. She scored on a Gregg single to make it 2-0, then drove in CJ McClain in the third to put the Vols up 3-0.
Solo home runs from Gregg and Brooke Vines gave the Vols plenty of insurance against the Lancers (28-28), who struggled to catch up to the fastballs thrown by Tennessee sophomore pitcher Matty Moss.
Moss (24-2) struck out 10 and allowed just one hit while throwing 98 pitches, including 69 for strikes in her 12th complete game of the season. She threw 18 first-pitch strikes to the 25 batters she faced.
"All week long, we've really been working on hitting really small spots and holding ourselves accountable to hitting those spots," Moss said. "I just went out there confident in the work I'd put in this week and working hard for the team and hitting my spots."
Redemption is on the line for the Vols, whose 2016 season ended in a home regional. As the eighth overall national seed, Tennessee would host a super regional next week if it can advance through this weekend.
The Vols dropped their second game in last year's regional, 4-0 against Arizona. Tennessee co-head coach Ralph Weekly said Tennessee "has a couple of injuries that are kind of holding us back a little bit" this time around, though he opted not to disclose them.
"I don't know how much longer we can get what we're going to get out of those two young pitchers," Weekly said, referencing Moss and freshman Caylan Arnold. "But as long as they can go, we'll go and we'll be ready to play."
USC-Upstate (45-11) coach Chris Hawkins acknowledged that his squad, which scored five runs in the seventh inning against Ohio State (35-17), will be an underdog against Tennessee.
"That's what I like," Hawkins said. "We've been favorites all year in what we do, and now we're the underdogs. It's so much more relaxing and less pressure on us to do what we do."
Weekly, who earned his 1,300th career win Friday, expects a test if he is to reach 1,301 today.
"That will be a battle," Weekly said. "We've been here a lot. This is our thirteenth year we've hosted (a regional), and we're proud to be here. But I think at this level and the way things are going in women's softball, every game is a battle."
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.