Tennessee was able to repeat last season's Southeastern Conference regular-season softball championship.
The Lady Vols were not able to repeat last year's SEC tournament title. LSU pitcher Sydney Berzon wouldn't allow it.
After throwing 208 pitches during Wednesday afternoon's 14-inning win over Alabama, the former Baylor School All-American recorded the final seven outs of Thursday night's opening quarterfinal as the eighth-seeded Tigers upset the top-seeded Lady Vols 2-1 at Auburn's Jane B. Moore Field. Berzon retired three Lady Vols batters by strikeout, including Zaida Puni on three pitches for the second out of the seventh inning, and she allowed only one hit.
"She would do anything for this team," LSU left fielder Ali Newland said of Berzon on the SEC Network. "She would get in the box and take a pitch. She would go lay out in the outfield. We all know that she would do anything for us, and that makes it so easy to play defense behind her and so easy to hit for her."
Berzon's 14 innings of work Wednesday set an SEC tournament record.
While LSU improved to 40-14 and will play in the league semifinals for the first time since 2017, Tennessee dropped to 40-10 and will have to wait until Sunday's NCAA tournament selection show (7 p.m. on ESPN2) before learning its pathway to potentially reach Oklahoma City. The Lady Vols became just the second top-seeded team at this event to go home without a win.
Karlyn Pickens got the start in the circle for the Lady Vols and issued opening walks to Sierra Daniel and Ciara Briggs. LSU capitalized on those free passes when Newland's two-out single up the middle scored Daniel to put the Tigers up 1-0.
Tennessee created a stir in the fourth inning by getting runners on first and second, but LSU starter Kelley Lynch struck out Alannah Leach for the third out with Kiki Milloy on deck. Milloy couldn't come up with a sliding catch of a Taylor Pleasants line drive to center field in the fifth inning, which enabled McKenzie Redoutey to score for a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Vols answered in their half of the fifth, plating their first run on a Sophia Nugent single up the middle that scored Amanda Ahlin. That would be the final pitch of the night for Lynch, who was replaced by Berzon, the 6-foot sophomore from Buffalo, New York, who attended Baylor as a boarding student.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.