Tennessee's baseball and softball teams headed into their respective matchups Friday with identical 41-13 records.
Only the Lady Volunteers reached 42-13.
Junior pitcher Ashley Rogers improved to 26-8 and notched her 24th complete game of the season in leading Tennessee to an 8-1 whipping of Eastern Kentucky as the Lady Vols opened NCAA tournament play at the Knoxville Regional. Rogers, the former Meigs County standout, allowed four hits and no walks while striking out six batters.
Senior right fielder Amanda Ayala went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs for the Lady Vols, who are seeded ninth overall in the NCAA bracket and face James Madison at noon Saturday. The Dukes won the regional's opening game Friday by topping Liberty 4-3.
Tony Vitello's fourth-ranked Vols weren't as fortunate on the baseball field, falling 3-2 to No. 21 South Carolina in Columbia on Brady Allen's three-run homer in the fifth inning that erased Tennessee's 2-0 advantage. The Vols, who won Thursday night's series opener 10-4, play the Gamecocks at noon Saturday in the series finale.
Tennessee is 41-14 overall, and its 19-10 mark in Southeastern Conference play now trails Vanderbilt, which improved to 19-9 in league games with Friday night's victory over visiting Kentucky.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.