KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A dominant 13 strikeout effort from All-SEC first-team pitcher Ashley Rogers led No. 12 national seed Tennessee to a 8-0 win over Longwood in six innings Friday afternoon at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium  to open the NCAA Knoxville Regional.

Rogers was supported by a pair of home runs from Chelsea Seggern, who had a pair of blasts and was responsible for six of the eight Volunteer (40-14) runs. Seggern had two of 10 Tennessee hits in the game, as she was joined by Jenna Holcomb with a two-hit day.

The performance from Rogers saw her match her season-high with 13 strikeouts, allowing three baserunners in the game. Rogers (21-4) retired the final seven batters she faced and threw 86 pitches, 64 for strikes.

"I didn't think we played well so it was difficult to see what we were truly capable of doing," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "We didn't play good defense and didn't put together good at-bats."

Longwood (37-21) had the first scoring opportunity of the game, as Wayland doubled to left field to start the game and advanced to third on a Jordan Clark sacrifice bunt. However, Rodgers came back to get out of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.

Seegern hit her first home run of the day to right center field in the third inning to hand the host Volunteers a 2-0 lead, before adding a three-run blast two innings later to cap a four-run fifth inning.

That was one of two hits for the Lancers, as Chelsea Whitcomb also added an infield single.

Sydney Backstrom (19-11) took the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits while walking one batter.

 With the loss, Longwood will face North Carolina Saturday, May 18 in an elimination game set to begin at 2:30 p.m.

The matchup will be the third all-time postseason game played between the Lancers and Tar Heels, as Longwood eliminated North Carolina in the 2016 Harrisonburg Regional to advance to the program's first-ever Regional Championship game.

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