AUBURN'S KRISTEN KEYES HANDCUFFS LADY VOLS AGAIN, 8-0

Sunday, April 21

Knoxville, Tenn.

University of Tennessee

33-22-1, 8-14

Auburn

30-20, 9-12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Auburn	0	0	2	0	1	2	3	8	10	2
Tennessee	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1

April 21, 2002 | Softball

Box Score

April 21, 2002

Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.

Auburn sophomore hurler Kristen Keyes kept the Lady Vol offense in check for the second straight day, lifting the Tigers to an 8-0 victory in the rubber match of the teams' series on Sunday afternoon. The right-hander fired a one-hit shutout in yesterday's second game and then surrendered four hits with a career-high 12 strikeouts in today's finale at Tyson Park for her sixth solo shutout of the campaign. With her 15th win of the year, Keyes (15-10) became her school's single-season win leader. Auburn (30-20/9-12 SEC) took an important step toward the SEC Tournament with the decision, while ninth-place Tennessee (33-22-1/8-14 SEC) has just one series remaining in its bid to reach the postseason.

"We had no answers for Kristen Keyes or Ashley Moore this weekend," said co-head coach Ralph Weekly. "Auburn dominated us in every phase of the game. For the third time in the last five games, we didn't show any effort at all. We were disappointed in our pitching in particular. Our pitcher has had plenty of rest in the last two weeks and should have had a better performance."

Auburn senior Ashley Moore continued her torrid weekend by belting her fourth homer of the series with a two-run job in the third inning off junior Stephanie Humphrey to snap a scoreless tie. Freshman Shannon Anderson drew a one-out walk and then Moore launched her league-leading 15th dinger just beyond the center field fence for the game's first runs.

The Lady Vols squandered a prime opportunity to break into the scoring column when freshman Whitney Bradshaw opened the third with a triple to the gap in right center field. After sophomore Ellisha Humphrey grounded out, Bradshaw was caught in a run-down for the second out. Keyes retired junior Blaine Teasley on strikes to preserve the 2-0 margin.

UT staged a mini-rally in the fourth by loading the bases with two down. Keyes set down seniors Hannah Low and Adrianna Wilson before freshman Amber Rhinehart earned a free pass. Junior Carissa Roustan punched a single up the middle and senior Maria Torres then drew a base on balls to fill the sacks full of Lady Vols. The sophomore right-hander responded by fanning senior pinch hitter Nicole Borg to end the stanza.

The Tigers plated another run in the fifth on a two-out RBI double down the left field line by senior Kelly Sutton. Junior Jodie Van Ooyen started things off for the visitors with a walk but sophomore Lindsey Chitwood grounded into a double play for two quick outs. Anderson smacked a double into left center and the Weeklys decided to walk Moore intentionally to face Sutton. The hitter grooved Humphrey's 2-1 offering to plate Anderson, however, Moore was thrown out at third base on a bullet from Bradshaw to Roustan to keep the count at 3-0.

Junior Kasey Angulo laced a single to left to begin the sixth and was sacrificed to second by rookie Sara Dean. Junior Deni Zeigler stroked a double just inside the right field line to advance Angulo to third with one down. A costly fielding error on Phillips' grounder resulted in the bases being full for Auburn. Van Ooyen came through with a two-run double to the fence to boost the Tigers' lead to five runs.

Once again, the Orange loaded the bases in the sixth, only to come away empty-handed. Rhinehart reached on a one-out error and occupied second on a base-hit by Roustan. Another mistake by the Tigers on Torres' grounder filled the bases with one out in the inning for Tennessee. Keyes rose to the challenge by catching Stephanie Humphrey looking at strikes before having Bradshaw's grounder force Roustan at the third for the final out.

Auburn added two more runs in its final turn at the plate when Sutton socked her third home run of the season to left field to increase the tally to 7-0. Previously, Moore had legged out an infield single to set the table for her teammate. Sophomore Crystal Bobo then came on in relief of Humphrey (22-16), who yielded nine hits and seven runs over her 6.1 innings. The righty's four strikeouts this afternoon leave her one shy of 300 for the campaign. Angulo mashed a double into left field off Bobo and then advanced to third on a passed ball. Junior Deni Zeigler's sacrifice fly brought home Angulo with the final run of the afternoon to conclude the scoring at 8-0.

Angulo was a team-best 3-for-4 with two runs for Auburn, while Moore (2-for-3, two RBI) and Sutton (2-for-4, three RBI) charted multiple-hit outings. Roustan's 2-for-3 effort was one of the lone bright spots for the Lady Volunteers.

Tennessee will conclude its SEC schedule when it hosts Florida for three games starting next Thursday. The Gators (29-30/9-15 SEC) claimed two of three contests over Eastern Division leader South Carolina this weekend in Gainesville.