Tennessee went toe-to-toe with the hottest softball team in the country Saturday night, but there was no stopping No. 2 Florida at Lee Softball Stadium.

The Gators won their 31st consecutive game, 6-5 in 11 innings, when Stacey Nelson (37-2) struck out freshman Jen Lapicki with the potential game-tying run at third base.

Florida (58-2, 26-1 SEC) won the opener, 4-2, over the No. 12 Lady Vols (46-12, 14-11) before the late-night classic unfolded.

UT rallied from a 4-1 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the sixth as Shannon Doepking delivered a two-RBI single and Tiffany Huff followed with an RBI hit up the middle.

UT senior Megan Rhodes (19-7) battled throughout the three-hour, 47-minute game, throwing 227 pitches and overcoming 10 walks before Francesca Enea’s sacrifice fly scored Aja Paculba in the top of the 11th.

The game had moved to international tiebreaker rules in the 10th inning, during which the last batter out from the previous inning starts the next inning at second base.

“Florida is a very, very good team,’’ said Ralph Weekly, who along with his wife, Karen, serves as co-head coach of the Lady Vols. “We battled all the way. I hope this is an indication we’re ready for the postseason.’’

The Gators, riding a school-record win streak, haven’t lost since dropping a 1-0 game to Alabama on March 12.

Still, UT had Florida on the ropes, out-hitting the Gators 12-7 and not committing any errors to Florida’s two in the nightcap.

“This was just the kind of game you want to win because you put so much into it,’’ said Rhodes, who kept Florida off the scoreboard in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings despite issuing leadoff walks. “I was tired at the end, but at that point I wasn’t even thinking about it.’’

Lady Vols’ star Tonya Callahan shone brightly in both games, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two walks in the second game and 2-for-3 in the first.

Florida jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first game, chasing starter Ashton Ward (27-5) after two innings.

Gators shortstop Megan Bush delivered the big shot, driving a two-run homer over the scoreboard in left-center field.

The Lady Vols rallied, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning off Nelson.

Kenora Posey started the inning with a slap-single and scored when Huff drew a bases-loaded walk. Erin Webb was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to cut the deficit to 3-2, but Nelson got Danielle Pieroni to groundout to end the inning.

Pieroni came on in relief of Ward in the top of the third inning and went the final five, allowing five hits and one earned run when Florida added an insurance run in the seventh on Paculba’s sacrifice fly.

Ward is questionable for today’s 1 p.m. game, as she did not practice in the days leading up to the series because of an illness.

The SEC tournament starts Thursday in Baton Rouge, La.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.