Tennessee's softball offense woke up after a nearly two-hour rain delay Friday night at Georgia, but the Lady Volunteers' late-innings rally fell short.
The No. 7 overall seed Bulldogs escaped with a 4-3 win in the first game of a best-of-three NCAA super regional series in Athens that continues today at 3 p.m. The winner of the series advances to the Women's College World Series next week in Oklahoma City.
Tenth-seeded Tennessee (48-13) trailed 4-0 coming out of the rain delay in the bottom of the fourth inning but staged a furious rally that came up just short when Abby Lockman's deep fly ball was caught in center field to end the game with the potential go-ahead run on base.
Caylan Arnold (26-5) took the loss for Tennessee after Georgia touched her for two runs in the first and two again in the third. Arnold returned to the circle after the delay and largely shut down the Bulldogs (47-11) the rest of the way.
Kylie Bass (15-3) earned the win for Georgia, which is navigating the postseason without Brittany Gray, who was the team's best pitcher until a biceps injury sidelined her last month. Mary Wilson Avant picked up her second save of the season by pitching through walks and a pair of Georgia errors in the final 1 1/3 innings.
Tennessee started a rally out of the rain delay with back-to-back, two-out singles from CJ McClain and Aubrey Leach in the fifth before Jenna Holcomb lined out to end the threat.
The potential rally was partially stifled before it began, when pinch-hitter Katie Weimer was thrown out while trying to extend a hit down the right-field line into a triple. Some camera angles appeared to show Weimer's hand safely touching third base before the tag was applied. But it was ruled the inning's second out, leaving the Lady Vols just two innings to try to erase a deficit they came just short of overcoming.