KNOXVILLE, TENN. — No. 7 seed Tennessee softball defeated Virginia 7-5 on Saturday at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium to advance in the winners bracket of the Knoxville Regional. The Volunteers will play in the regional championship game at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Sage Mardjetko started on the mound for Tennessee, striking out three batters across the first two innings and throwing a change-up pitch to end the second inning. Tennessee built a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Virginia walked a batter and hit another with a pitch before Mackenzie Butt singled down the right field line to load the bases with one out. Freshman Elsa Morrison followed with a double that scored two runs. Virginia pitcher Eden Bigham then walked Taelyn Holley, leading to Tennessee's fourth run of the inning, and the Volunteers added one more run before the frame ended. Virginia removed Bigham from the game after the first inning.

Virginia answered in the third inning with a three-run home run that cut Tennessee's lead to 5-3. Emma Clark responded later in the third with a solo home run that landed in the scoreboard. It was Clark's 12th home run of the season and her second of the weekend.

Karlyn Pickens entered the game as a relief pitcher in the fifth inning. Bella Faw made a play at shortstop to end the fifth.

In the sixth inning, Virginia hit a two-run home run down the middle to cut Tennessee's lead to one run. Pickens recorded a strikeout for the final out of the sixth.

Makenzie Butt hit a solo home run on the first pitch of the seventh inning to extend the Tennessee lead. Pickens then pitched a scoreless seventh, retiring three batters in order to end the game. Tennessee is aiming to compete in a fourth-consecutive Super Regional.