KNOXVILLE - Tennessee softball co-head coach Karen Weekly wanted her players to know she loved them before they took the field for the biggest game of their season.
And she wanted them to play with so much effort that they could lay their heads down Sunday night with pride, regardless of the outcome.
Texas A&M's 5-3 victory over Tennessee in front of a national television audience and the third straight record crowd at Lee Stadium left the young Volunteers one game short of the Women's College World Series and visibly emotional. But Weekly reiterated the same two things to her players after the game she expressed to them before it started.
"When we went in the locker room," Weekly said, "I just told them 'I love you just as much as I did this morning, and I feel like you have peace of mind, because what I saw out there was everybody playing with a full heart.'"
Picked before the season to finish fifth in the Southeastern Conference, the Vols earned the eighth overall national seed in the NCAA postseason and nearly rode the pitching of sophomore Matty Moss and freshman Caylan Arnold to the program's eighth WCWS appearance.
Texas A&M's offense would not be contained, however, in this super regional. After Tennessee won the best-of-three series opener 8-1 on Friday night, the Aggies rallied to win 6-5 on Saturday and force Sunday's decisive matchup.
Riley Sartain, batting sixth in the lineup, belted a three-run home run off a light pole in left field during the third inning to put Texas A&M (47-11) ahead 4-3. Tori Vidales hit a solo home run in the fifth to provide the Aggies an extra cushion.
"You look at their lineup, there aren't many lineups in the country that are that solid one through nine," Weekly said. "You've got to pretty much play a perfect game defensively and on the mound. You're going to give up some hits and some runs, but if you give hitters like that another chance, you open the door and they're going to do their damage.
"That's what I felt like happened a little bit yesterday and today. We just allowed them to turn the lineup over a little too often."
Trinity Harrington (14-2) pitched a complete game - she settled in after Tennessee (48-12) scored three runs in the first two innings - to earn the win and send the Aggies to Oklahoma City for the first time since 2008.
Moss (26-3) lasted four innings, allowing five runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks while hitting one batter and striking out two. Arnold finished up, allowing two walks but no hits while striking out one.
Weekly said Tennessee players gave an emotional farewell to outfielder Megan Geer in the locker room after the game. The coach choked up briefly while describing a scene in which the players each told Geer, the team's senior leader, how they felt about her.
"I thought our team, we fought every single inning of the entire series we had here," Geer said. "You can't ask for much more. For it to not go our way, hats off to Texas A&M. They're a great team and had a little bit more than us today. Sometimes that's how it goes.
"Yeah, it's pretty disappointing. But at the same time, I think the girls the entire season have really enjoyed playing together. To get to do that one last time was really special."
Aside from Geer, every contributor figures to return for Tennessee next season, and a talented class of incoming freshmen will bolster a roster Weekly expects to be "hungry."
"We're young, and we just need a few more weapons," she said. "Texas A&M just has a few more weapons than we do."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.