KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - McKenna Gibson and Rylie West propelled the third-ranked Lady Vols past No. 12 Florida, 9-1, in the series-opener Saturday afternoon at Sherri Lee Parker Stadium in front of a sellout crowd of 2,082.

Gibson continued her hot streak as she homered in her fourth consecutive game. She finished the day with three hits - a single short of the cycle - and five RBIs. 

West accounted for the rest of UT's runs with a grand slam in the third. The blast was her second of the year and Tennessee's third grand slam this season. It was West's first-career grand slam.

Tennessee (36-5, 14-2 SEC) struck first thanks to Gibson's solo homer giving the Lady Vols a one-run lead after the first inning. The dinger was her 15th of the year.

After a scoreless second inning, the Gators (32-12, 8-8 SEC) countered with a solo home run of their own. Leadoff hitter Skylar Wallace hit one over the left-field wall to even the game at one.

The Lady Vols broke the tie in the latter half of the inning, exploding for six runs. Gibson recorded her second hit of the day with a go-ahead, two-run double. A couple of walks by Zaida Puni and Giulia Koutsoyanopulos loaded the bases and set the stage for West. The junior then crushed a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left field, putting the Lady Vols up 7-1 after three innings.

Gibson added two more to Tennessee's total in the fourth with a two-run triple down the left field line to put the Lady Vols up 9-1.

Florida's Kendra Falby flew out to West to record the game's final out as UT secured a 9-1 run-rule victory over the Gators.

Graduate Ashley Rogers started in the circle, giving up one run on three hits in 2.1 innings of work. The righty fanned three batters before senior Payton Gottshall came on in relief. She allowed just one hit over the final 2.2 innings and struck out one. Gottshall earned the win and moved to 10-0 on the year.

Elizabeth Hightower tossed three frames for the Gators, allowing seven runs on four hits with four strikeouts. She suffered the loss and fell to 14-7 on the year. Samantha Bender replaced her in the fourth and gave up two runs on one hit.

UP NEXT

Tennessee hosts Florida for game two of the series on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network.