University of Tennessee Athletics
Southwest Texas State Rallies To Defeat Lady Vols, 4-3
February 10, 2001 | Softball
- Box Score
Tennessee Falls to 1-1 at the Islander Classic
On the verge of capturing its second straight game at the Islander Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Friday night, the Lady Vol softball team was stunned by a seventh-inning rally from Southwest Texas State. Trailing 3-2 entering the final frame, the Bobcats pushed across a pair of runs and then set down UT in order in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 4-3 triumph. SWT had played catch-up the entire contest, as it overcome a 3-0 deficit to emerge victorious. With the loss, head coach Jim Beitia's club slips to 1-4, while the Bobcats boost their mark to 6-1.
The Orange seized a quick 1-0 advantage in the first in bizarre fashion. Senior shortstop Annie Fletcher led off the game by being plunked by pitcher Stephanie Blair. Fletcher was then sacrificed over to second base by classmate Janette Koshell before advancing to third on a grounder by sophomore Carissa Roustan. With junior Maria Torres at bat, SWT catcher Jennie Tomme was charged with a passed ball, allowing Fletcher to race home with the initial run.
Tennessee tacked on a couple more runs in the second to assume a 3-0 lead. Freshman Amber Rhinehart, serving as the designated player, opened with an infield single and was replaced by pinch runner Nicole Johnson. A base-hit by senior catcher Maura Mollet, coupled with a throwing error, left the Lady Vols in prime position to inflict more damage with a pair of runners aboard and only one down.
Senior second baseman Melissa Radley punched a single into left to plate Johnson and Fletcher later smacked a two-out flare that the shortstop could not handle to drive in Mollet. However, Radley was gunned down at home trying to score all the way from second base on the play, leaving the score 3-0 in favor of the Big Orange.
Freshman Leigh Ann Ellis, making her collegiate debut, was brilliant through the first three innings, allowing zero hits and one walk. With two down in the fourth, SWT's Sarah Youngdale poked a single straight up the middle to break up the rookie's no-hit bid and shortstop Elizabeth Wissel slammed a double into right field to narrow the gap to 3-1. Ellis prevented any further scoring by whiffing Tomme on strikes on a full count.
The Bobcats edged closer in the fifth stanza, helped by a pair of untimely wild pitches from the Lady Vol left-hander. Southwest Texas third baseman Sarah Kmiec stroked a single into shallow center field to lead off and was then moved over to second on a bunt by Perri Yarbrough. With Ashley Koop in the batter's box, Ellis uncorked a wild pitch that enabled Yarbrough to advance to third and another one to shrink Tennessee's lead to a tenuous 3-2.
UT's offense did little to help matters either, as the squad managed just four hits the entire game, with each coming in the second inning. Reliever Jessica Chase, who came on for the Bobcats in the top of the third, allowed no hits in five innings of work to raise her mark to a perfect 3-0.
In the decisive seventh, Ellis allowed a leadoff walk to Tomme, who was replaced by pinch runner Kristy Gandy. Kmiec then executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to push her teammate over to second base with the potential game-tying run. At that point, Beitia summoned junior Nicole Borg to replace Ellis in the circle. Catcher Mollet could not handle the right-hander's initial offering and the result was a passed ball that positioned Gandy at third base.
Yarbrough then rocked Borg's 2-1 pitch to the triangle in center field for a triple to knot the affair at three runs apiece. A sacrifice fly to left by Koop on an 0-2 count would enable the Bobcats to assume a slim 4-3 lead on Yarbrough's run. Chase would then retire the Lady Vols in order to preserve SWT's emotional win. Borg took the loss to fall to 0-2 on the campaign.
Tennessee will be back in action against this same Southwest Texas State squad tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. CT. The Lady Vols will also encounter #16 Oregon State (5-1) at six o'clock Central time.
Islander Classic Records Run Differential Oregon State 2-0 5-0 Southwest Texas St 1-0 4-3 Mississippi State 1-1 8-3 TENNESSEE 1-1 10-5 Texas A&M-CC 0-2 1-17
Fri., Feb. 9 TENNESSEE 7 Texas A&M-CC 1
Oregon State 3 Mississippi State 0
Mississippi State 8 Texas A&M-CC 0
Oregon State 2 Texas A&M-CC 0
Southwest Texas St 4 TENNESSEE 3
