# SEC Softball: Tennessee Lady Volunteers Defeats Texas Tech Red Raiders 2-1 **Published:** 2026-05-30 — **By:** Stacy Stanfield **Category:** games — **Type:** game-recap **Source:** https://secscouts.com/news/tennessee-lady-vols-edge-texas-tech-2-1-clarke-walk-off-homer **Teams:** [Oklahoma](https://secscouts.com/oklahoma/), [Tennessee](https://secscouts.com/tennessee/), [Texas](https://secscouts.com/texas/) **Players:** [Sage - P Mardjetko](https://secscouts.com/players/?id=13484), [Karlyn - P Pickens](https://secscouts.com/players/?id=13485), [Emma Clarke](https://secscouts.com/players/emma-clarke), [Bella Faw](https://secscouts.com/players/bella-faw), [Taelyn Holley](https://secscouts.com/players/taelyn-holley), [Sophia Knight](https://secscouts.com/players/sophia-knight), [Gabby Leach](https://secscouts.com/players/gabby-leach) --- OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (05/29/2026) — The Tennessee Lady Volunteers edged the Texas Tech Red Raiders 2-1 on Friday at OGE Energy Field at Devon Park, with Emma Clarke launching a ninth-inning home run to center field to break a 1-1 tie and lift Tennessee to a hard-fought win. The pitcher's duel turned on the long ball, and Tennessee won the exchange. Clarke's solo shot in the ninth provided the decisive run after Texas Tech had clawed back to even the score two innings earlier. In a game with zero lead changes and just one tie, Tennessee held the front for nearly the entire night and made the slim margin stand. ## How It Happened Neither side scored through the first four innings as the arms took control. Tennessee finally broke through in the fifth, when Taelyn Holley homered to left to put the Lady Volunteers up 1-0. That single run held up as the game's only scoring for the next two innings. Texas Tech answered in the seventh. Desirae Spearman lifted a sacrifice fly to center that scored Taylor Pannell, knotting the game at 1-1 and pushing additional runners into scoring position. The tie held into the ninth, where Clarke ended the stalemate with her drive to center to make it 2-1 Tennessee. With just three scoring plays in the entire contest, every at-bat carried weight. The Lady Volunteers got the timely power they needed, and their pitching staff did the rest, limiting Texas Tech to a single run across nine innings. ## Turning Point The game pivoted on Clarke's ninth-inning home run. After Spearman's sacrifice fly had erased Tennessee's lead in the seventh, the contest sat tied and looked headed for extra frames. Clarke's solo shot to center supplied the go-ahead run and forced Texas Tech to find an answer in its final at-bats. The Red Raiders could not, and Tennessee closed it out for the 2-1 victory. Just as important was what followed in the circle. Sage Mardjetko relieved and delivered 2.1 scoreless innings, surrendering no hits and striking out two to slam the door and preserve the one-run margin. ## Star of the Game Clarke earns top honors for the swing that decided it. She finished 1-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI and the game-winning home run to center — the kind of single-at-bat impact that separates teams in a one-run game. Karlyn Pickens deserves heavy recognition as well. Pickens worked 6.2 innings for Tennessee, scattering five hits while allowing just one run and striking out six. Her length on the mound kept Texas Tech off balance and set up Mardjetko's clean finish. Holley also contributed a critical run, going 1-for-2 with a run scored, an RBI and a home run of her own in the fifth. Texas Tech got strong individual efforts in defeat. Mihyia Davis went 2-for-4 to pace the Red Raiders at the plate, while Pannell reached and scored the team's lone run. In the circle, Kaitlyn Terry turned in 4.1 innings with three hits, one run and four strikeouts, and NiJaree Canady followed with 3.2 innings of two-hit, one-run ball and three strikeouts. ## What It Means For the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, the 2-1 win is the product of exactly the formula that travels in elite softball: power in key spots and pitching that holds a narrow lead. Clarke and Holley supplied the home runs, Pickens carried the workload, and Mardjetko nailed down the finish. It is a complete, low-margin victory that demonstrates Tennessee can win the tight ones during the 2026 season. For the Texas Tech Red Raiders, this was a tough loss in a game they were one swing from extending. Their pitching kept them in it, with Terry and Canady combining to allow just two runs across nine innings, and Davis and Pannell gave the offense life. The Red Raiders fell short by the slimmest of margins, but the effort on the mound and the timely tying run in the seventh show a team that competed to the final out. In a contest decided by a single run and a pair of home runs, Tennessee made the bigger swing when it mattered most. --- *Original article: [SEC Softball: Tennessee Lady Volunteers Defeats Texas Tech Red Raiders 2-1](https://secscouts.com/news/tennessee-lady-vols-edge-texas-tech-2-1-clarke-walk-off-homer) — SEC Scouts*