UT Lady Vols softball beat Kentucky thanks to Caylan Arnold's pitching, Ashley Morgan's swing

Ralph Weekly's message wasn't subtle, and neither was Ashley Morgan's response.

Tennessee's co-head softball coach met with the Lady Vols' freshman first baseman before her at-bat in the third inning Sunday afternoon and essentially told her to be a real swinger for a change.

"I said: I'm tired of weak swings," Weekly said. "Get up there and attack the ball and finish."

More: Leadership includes being 'bad guy' for Chelsea Seggern of Lady Vols

Morgan ripped the first pitch in savage fashion. She struck the most dramatic blow of Tennessee's 6-0 victory over Kentucky before a crowd of 2,267 at Lee Stadium, sending a three-run homer into the parking lot behind the right-field fence.

"Oh on that one," Morgan said, "it just all came together."

Morgan's homer, along with Meghan Gregg's solo shot in the first, backed the pitching of Caylan Arnold, who allowed four hits and struck out seven.

No. 6 Tennessee (42-10, 12-9 SEC) won the final two games of the weekend series after a crushing 9-8 loss to Kentucky (29-17, 6-14) on Friday night.

Before Morgan's moment

Morgan's homer wouldn't have happened without teammate Haley Bearden's workman-like effort preceding it. Her two-out bloop single to right field wasn't nearly as spectacular. But it was no less important in extending the inning.

"That was the key hit," Weekly said.

The junior designated player worked the pitch count full and deposited the ball between three Wildcats in shallow right field. The hit drove in pinch-runner Brooke Langston.

"She didn't get it on the strong part of the bat and was able to strength it over (the second baseman)," Weekly said.

Too much thinking

Weekly's message to Morgan wasn't anything she hadn't heard before. She's had plenty of time to think about it, which might have been part of her problem.

"The message has been there," she said. "It's definitely been in my mind. I just think that sometimes I'm thinking too much."

Morgan's homer came a day after fellow freshmen Amanda Ayala also hit a three-run homer. They both swung away, instead of taking what Weekly described as "kind of protective swings."

"They're sometimes afraid of making mistakes," Weekly said of freshmen, "and so they don't go all out. They're just trying to play it safe."

No loss for motivation

Arnold wasn't available Friday night because of injury, and Tennessee's 8-2 lead was erased by the Wildcats' homer barrage.

"Had she been available Friday night, I think we might have been able to hold on to that lead, taking nothing away from Kentucky," Weekly said.

Arnold's pitching supported that viewpoint. The sophomore right-hander went the distance on Saturday as well, allowing just one run and four hits in UT's 8-1 victory.

"It was a very, very big motivation," Arnold said of Friday's loss. "I was not the happiest person on Friday night. You can ask anybody. Just because I hate losing so much, especially games where we put up eight runs.

"I was ready. I was ready to come out and win and do my best."

With the wins, Arnold's personal record improved to 21-4.