UT falls 6-5 in 11 to Florida

Saturday, May 3

Knoxville, Tenn.

University of Tennessee

46-12, 14-11

Florida

58-2, 26-1

Florida

Tennessee

May 03, 2008 | Softball

Box Score

Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? In both the longest home and league contest by innings for No. 12 Tennessee (46-12, 14-11 Southeastern Conference) in program history, the Lady Vols dropped a tough, 6-5 (11 inn.) decision to No. 2 Florida (58-2, 26-1 SEC) in the finale of a doubleheader on Saturday night at the Lee Softball Stadium.?? The marathon took three hours and 47 minutes and brought the international tiebreaker rule into play before finally setting things.

Senior pitcher Megan Rhodes (19-7) tossed a career-high 11 innings and fired a staggering 227 pitches in the complete game, allowing four earned runs on just seven hits with a season-best 14 strikeouts.?? The Nashville, Tenn., native did issue 10 walks, however, undermining her determined effort.

Offensively, UT banged out 12 hits and left 16 runners on base as the two squads combined to strand 29 overall in the contest.?? Senior third baseman Tonya Callahan was 3-for-4 at the dish with a pair of RBIs, two walks and a run scored.?? By drawing her second free pass in the game, she equaled the SEC single-season record for walks (51) held by former Alabama All-American Kelly Kretschman and former Mississippi State All-American Iyhia McMichael.?? Senior catcher Shannon Doepking (1-for-5) delivered a pair of RBIs, while junior left fielder Lillian Hammond recorded a 3-for-6 effort with a tally.

???Both Karen (co-head coach Weekly) and I think Florida is a tremendous team,??? Lady Vol co-head coach Ralph Weekly said.?? ???They were tough from start to finish.?? Ashton Ward, who had not practiced this week because of illness, just didn???t have enough energy in the first inning of the opener.?? We had a lot of opportunities to win the second game but couldn???t get the key hit we needed.?? When you leave 16 runners on base and walk 10, it???s hard to beat any team, much less Florida.?? We are proud of Megan Rhodes for her effort and her ability to get out of jams today.?? We???ll come back out tomorrow and try to give them a tough contest.???

After Rhodes forced Florida to leave a pair of base runners stranded in the top of the first, Tennessee plated a run in the bottom half of the initial frame for the 24th time this season.?? A Gator throwing error on a grounder off the bat of senior shortstop Kenora Posey christened the bottom of the first.?? A slap single from junior left fielder Lillian Hammond placed two aboard for Callahan.?? The Holden, Mo., native came through by delivering a sharp base knock over the bag and down the left field line plating Posey for a 1-0 lead and recording her team-best 60th RBI of the campaign.

The Orange & Blue responded immediately in the top of the second as designated player Tiffany DeFelice blasted a one-out home run to center field dead-locking the contest at 1-1.?? Despite allowing the big fly, Rhodes managed to punch out the side as UF???s Mary Ratliff, Kristina Hilberth and Corrie Brooks each were retired on strikes.

Beginning the bottom half of the second, sophomore second baseman Nicole Kajitani battled UF starter Stephanie Brombacher over 11 pitches and numerous foul balls before driving a 3-2 offering into the gap in left center and to the wall for a lead-off double.?? Freshman designated player Chandra Mogan bounced out to the right side of the infield advancing the runner 60 feet to third.?? Posey lifted a fly ball to left, but not deep enough to plate Kajitani as Francesca Enea squeezed the ball for the second out.?? Hammond ripped a liner but right at leaping UF second baseman Aja Paculba to conclude the frame.

Following Callahan???s second base knock of the contest opening the bottom of the third, Huff battled Brombacher over an 11-pitch at-bat before drawing a one-out free pass.?? Unfortunately a strikeout and a pop-up back to the circle ended the Lady Vol threat.

Rhodes walked Ratliff to begin the top of the fourth, and DeFelice dropped a sacrifice bunt moving the runner into scoring position.?? Tennessee???s hurler managed to strikeout Hilberth, before Brooks lined straight to Hammond near the line in deep left bringing the inning to a close with no scoring.

Another Gator miscue by third baseman Brooks opened a Big Orange rally in the bottom of the fourth as Mogan reached safely.?? Posey followed with a clean infield single to deep short, and both runners eventually moved up 60 feet on a groundout by Hammond.?? With two retired, Florida coach Tim Walton made the decision to intentionally walk Callahan to load the bases.?? The move paid off, but nearly back-fired on UF, as Doepking drove a blast to deep right but came up just short of the warning track as Ratliff made the inning-ending catch.

A one out walk issued to Paculba in the fifth ended up costing Rhodes as first baseman Ali Gardiner drove a ball to deep center for an RBI double.?? The UF runner raced all the way around from first eventually eluding a tag attempt by Doepking at the dish to nab a 2-1 lead.?? Following a foul out, shortstop Megan Bush blasted a two-run homer over the wall in left, granting the Gators a three-run advantage.??????

Brombacher???s day in the circle concluded beginning the Lady Vol half of the fifth as UF???s Stacey Nelson entered in relief.?? The Los Alamitos, Calif., native retired the Big Orange line-up in order while recording a pair of strikeouts.

With time beginning to run short in regulation, Mogan granted UT a one out base runner in the bottom of the sixth via a walk.?? Hammond joined her teammate on the base paths with a hard single off the glove of Nelson in the circle.?? That brought Callahan to the plate facing a huge spot in the contest.?? A wild pitch on a 1-2 count allowed both runners to improve 60 feet into scoring position.?? Tennessee???s 5-8 third baseman battled to a 3-2 count before drawing her 51st free pass of the season, tying the SEC single-season record.?? Doepking stepped up and blooped a clutch single over shortstop Megan Bush and into left field plating Mogan and Hammond and cutting the deficit to 4-3.?? Huff delivered next with a base knock back up the middle that ricocheted off the second base bag and into left center allowing Callahan the opportunity to race home with the tying run.??

A lead-off walk issued by Rhodes and a single that dropped on the chalk down the left field line from Gardiner placed two Gators aboard with none retired in the top of the seventh.?? UT???s hurler got Enea and Bush swinging at strike three, registering two huge outs, despite a passed ball that allowed the base occupants to advance into scoring position.?? Ratliff fell behind in the count 1-2 before Rhodes got the UF batter to swing at a rise ball as Tennessee???s pitcher K???ed the side.

UF pinch hitter Le-Net Franklin opened extra frames with a walk against Rhodes.?? A fielder???s choice that cut down the lead runner at second and a bunt out in front of the plate that turned into a retirement on a solid play by Doepking got UT close to getting out of the eighth.?? Center fielder Kim Waleszonia also drew a free pass to place two aboard, but Paculba looked at strike three, tallying Rhodes??? season-high 13th K of the contest.?? The pitch marked the 172nd of the match-up for Rhodes.??

A pair of free passes granted UF two more base occupants in the top of the ninth.?? With one out and a 0-2 count on Ratliff, a wild pitch advanced the pair 60 feet.?? Rhodes responded by catching the batter looking at a third strike for a vital second retirement.?? Franklin flew down the left field line, but right to Hammond as the outfielder squeezed the ball to retire the side and maintain the 4-4 tie.??

Tennessee left a pair stranded in the bottom of the ninth after having the two occupants with just one out.?? Kajitani bounced back to Nelson in the circle, and Mogan grounded routinely to third sending the two teams into the 10th inning and involving the international tiebreaker.

With a runner placed at second to start the frame, Rhodes walked Florida???s Hilberth.?? A sacrifice bunt advanced the runners up a base, setting the stage for a sacrifice fly off the bat of Waleszonia, granting UF a 5-4 advantage.

Consecutive singles from Hammond and Callahan plated Posey in the bottom half of the 10th dead-locking the match-up once again at 5-5.?? Unfortunately, a 6-4-3 double play killed a potential game-winning rally as the Gator defense came up with a huge effort.

Another sacrifice fly, this one off the bat of Enea in the 11th, pushed Florida back in front by a run, 6-5, heading into the bottom half.?? A sac bunt from Huff moved Doepking to third with just one down, but a pair of strikeouts by Nelson from the circle completed the Orange & Blue triumph.??

No. 12 Tennessee will complete its series with No. 2 Florida on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.?? Live stats will be available through utladyvols.com.