NO. 3 CALIFORNIA OVERPOWERS LADY VOLS, 11-1

Saturday, February 1

Berkeley, Calif.

University of Tennessee

1-3

Cal

3-0

California

Tennessee

February 01, 2003 | Softball

Box Score

Feb. 1, 2003

Box Score

BERKELEY, Calif.

Third-ranked California (3-0) ran its winning streak to 14 games with an 11-1 decision over the Lady Vol softball team on Saturday afternoon at Levine-Fricke Field. The contest was stopped after five innings due to the eight-run mercy rule. In falling to the defending national champions for the second day in a row, Co-Head Coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly watched their club fall to 1-3 after its opening weekend of activity. Golden Bear sophomore Kelly Anderson carried a perfect game into the fifth before Lady Vol freshman catcher Kristi Durant (Placentia, Calif.) deposited a single into left field to begin the inning. Rookie Kim Sanders (Placentia, Calif.) later contributed an RBI single to score Durant with the Orange's lone run.

"We're not as bad as the box score indicated, however, some things went wrong right from the get-go and mental mistakes caused a snowball effect that dug us too deep of a hole to get out of," said Ralph Weekly. "We told our kids afterwards that it is just one game in a 70-game season and that we will be heading back to the practice field to get better. The key is not how you start, but how you finish."

The Golden Bears wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard, plating three runs on three hits in the top of the first. Sophomore Vicky Galindo drew a leadoff walk from freshman Stacey Jennings (Aurora, Colo.) and senior Kristen Morley reached on a slap-hit before senior All-American Veronica Nelson bashed an RBI single into right field for a 1-0 advantage. A run-scoring grounder by senior All-American catcher Courtney Scott enabled Morley to come across and sophomore Chelsea Spencer would later chip in with a two-out RBI single to center field to plate sophomore pinch runner Linzi Wescott.

The hosts added two more runs in the third to fashion a 5-0 lead. Morley walked and took second on a wild pitch and Nelson reached via a base on balls. An infield single by Scott loaded the bases but Jennings was able to induce a pop-out to freshman shortstop Danielle Arriaga (Miami, Fla.) off the bat of rookie Haley Woods. A throwing error on a ground ball from Spencer resulted in both Morley and Nelson crossing the dish.

In the fourth, freshman Lindsay James and Galindo stroked consecutive singles before rookie LeAnna Hoglen laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her teammates to second and third, respectively. With first base open, the Weeklys elected to walk slugger Nelson intentionally to pitch to Scott. The move backfired when Jennings walked the Golden Bear on four pitches to bring home James. Senior Stephanie Humphrey (Knoxville, Tenn.) was then called upon to make her fourth appearance in the circle in as many games. A fielding error allowed Galindo to increase the Cal lead to 7-0 and kept the bases full with one down. Sophomore Jessica Pamanian ripped a two-run single into left and sped down to second on another defensive miscue by the Lady Vols for a 9-0 score.

For added measure, the reigning NCAA champs scored two more runs in the fifth to end the contest early. James punched a single to center and Galindo followed with a slapper that was thrown away, allowing James to score all the way from first base on the play. Scott would drive in Galindo with an RBI grounder to complete her team's scoring.

After Anderson had retired the first 12 batters she had faced, Durant ruined the pitcher's bid for a perfecto with a clean single into shallow left field. Senior Blaine Teasley (Tucson, Ariz.) ripped a base-hit up the middle two batters later to give UT two runners on base for the first time in the contest. Anderson answered by striking out freshmen Katherine Card (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.). With the pitcher on the verge of a shutout, Sanders came through with her first collegiate hit to score Durant with the Lady Vols' only run.

For Cal, Galindo finished 2-for-3 with three runs and James was 2-for-3 with a couple of runs. Anderson struck out nine and allowed three singles to boost her ledger to a spotless 2-0. Jennings (1-2) suffered the loss after working 3.1 frames with six hits, nine runs (five earned) and five walks. Humphrey gave up three hits and two runs (zero earned) in 1.2 innings.

Tennessee will resume action next Friday when it begins the Triple Crown Invitational in St. Augustine, Fla., hosted by the University of Central Florida. The Lady Vols will meet UMKC (9 a.m.) and Stetson (2 p.m.) during their first of three days at the tournament.