NO. 4 TENNESSEE SWEEPS SOUTH CAROLINA BEHIND 3-0 VICTORY

Wednesday, April 19

Knoxville, Tenn.

University of Tennessee

44-6, 15-6

South Carolina

24-25, 4-16

South Carolina

Tennessee

NO. 4 TENNESSEE SWEEPS SOUTH CAROLINA BEHIND 3-0 VICTORY

April 19, 2006 | Softball

Box Score

April 19, 2006

Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - No. 4 Tennessee (44-6, 15-6 SEC) fought past a game South Carolina squad (24-25, 4-16 SEC) on Wednesday afternoon to register a 3-0 victory and sweep the three-game league series between the two teams. The Big Orange are currently on a nine-game winning streak to mark their second-longest skein of the season after opening the campaign a perfect 24-0.

Freshman third baseman Jennifer Griffin hammered her ninth home run of the season with a solo shot over the left field wall in the second inning as part of a 1-for-3 effort. Senior center fielder Sarah Fekete was 2-of-3 with an RBI. Junior pitcher Monica Abbott hurled her 19th shutout of the campaign by allowing just three hits over a full seven innings with nine K's. The victory was the Salinas, Calif., native's 32nd of the year against only five defeats.

"We left a few runners on base today and had a couple of tough base running errors," said Lady Vol co-head coach Ralph Weekly. "Realistically, I thought we played well. Both Karen (co-head coach Weekly) and I were really pleased with the performance of our freshman players. Danielle Pieroni got a key hit, and Jennifer Griffin delivered a big home run for our team. Sarah Vaughn scored twice. Liane Horiuchi continued to get big hits for us and is playing well defensively. It was neat that we had four freshmen contributing for us in the line-up for the majority of the game.

South Carolina came out in the top of the first inning looking to jump out in front initially by reaching Abbott for a pair of singles to grant the Gamecocks a pair of baserunners with two down. The two-time All-American hurler settled down to strikeout pitcher Christie Hamilton to close out the frame with no scoring.

Having survived USC's first at-bat with no damage, the Lady Vols coerced consecutive walks by junior shortstop Lindsay Schutzler and sophomore first baseman Tonya Callahan (intentional BB) to post their own duo at first and second with two down. Senior right fielder Katherine Card worked a full count and loaded the bags on a base-on-balls marking the third walk permitted by Hamilton in the inning. Freshman second baseman Liane Horiuchi ripped a shot towards the middle. USC shortstop McKenna Hughes dove to her left in an attempt to corral the orb and preserve the scoreless tie. Unfortunately for the Lady Vols, the batted ball struck an unlucky Callahan on the foot between second and third base and rolled away for an automatic out to conclude the inning by stranding three on base.

Abbott rolled through the SC line-up in order during the top of the second to bring the Lady Vol offense to the dish once again in the bottom half of the frame. Griffin made sure the Orange & White got on the scoreboard first by blasting her ninth home run of the season deep over the left field wall for a 1-0 lead. Coming into today's contest, Tennessee was an incredible 37-2 when plating the game's initial tally. Following a fly out to short right by catcher Shannon Doepking, freshman left fielder Sarah Vaughn drew the fourth walk of the game off Hamilton. Fekete delivered a perfect sacrifice bunt and nearly beat the throw to advance the runner up 60 feet. Pinch hitter Natalie Brock drove a bouncer to second that was booted by USC's Ashton Payne to extend Tennessee's inning. That play cost the Gamecocks a run as the recently re-entered Kenora Posey at first and Vaughn at third executed a successful double steal to extend the Lady Vol advantage to 2-0.

The pitchers settled down for most of the third and the fourth frames as neither squad registered a base runner until a walk permitted to Doepking with one down. A two-out double off the top of the left field wall by Vaughn sent pinch runner Alicia Brown around second digging for third. On the play a perfect 7-6-5 relay throw from left field cut down the lead runner for the second out of the frame. With Vaughn standing on second and no damage as of yet on the scoreboard, Fekete came through with a clutch slap double down the left field line to plate Tennessee's third run of the game.

Carolina's Smith drove a one out single through the left side of the infield to break an Abbott string of 11 straight retirements dating back to the final out of the opening inning. With a runner on, USC first baseman Jacqueline Wetherbee sent a ball just wide of first base. Callahan stepped to her left and leapt to snare the ball in foul territory to make it two down. A bunt attempt by left fielder Margaret Person rolled straight to Schutzler who fired on to Callahan to retire the side.

Schutzler took one for the team to christen the bottom of the fifth inning by being struck by a Hamilton offering in the right shoulder. Defensive replacement Danielle Pieroni ripped the fifth hit in her last eight at-bats, dating back to the series opener against Austin Peay on April 11th, with a single into right to grant UT a pair of base runners with one down. Tennessee couldn't add to its advantage, however, as Horiuchi and Griffin went down on strikes to conclude the frame.

UT nearly added some insurance to its three-run lead in the bottom of the sixth as Vaughn ripped a long shot to the base of the wall in left that was tracked down for one out. Fekete laced a bouncing slap single over the third baseman's head, and Posey delivered a shot down the line to grant the Lady Vols a pair of two-out base runners. A ground ball to first by Schutzler ended the inning as UT hauled its 3-0 advantage to South Carolina's last chance opportunity.

Abbott induced a fly ball to deep left by third baseman Chrissy Schoonmaker to lead-off the top of the seventh before walking the pitcher Hamilton to grant USC a little life. Center fielder Lisa Longo popped on the infield to Callahan behind the circle for the second out. After going 3-0 to Smith, the UT hurler worked back to a full count before firing one by Smith for her ninth strikeout to close out the series sweep.

Following a season-long 13-game homestand, No. 4 Tennessee will take to the road this weekend by venturing to Starkville, Miss., to match-up in a three-game set against the Mississippi State. The series will commence with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 22, at 1 p.m. CT. Live stats will be available through utladyvols.com, and periodic updates will be posted on the Lady Vol Hotline at (865) 974-8700 (box #6).