University of Tennessee Athletics
20 for 20: 18 Days Til Softball Season
January 19, 2015 | Softball
Only 18 days left until the start of the 2015 Tennessee softball season! Today we look back at the 1998 Lady Vols.
Tennessee celebrates its 20th year of softball in 2015. In honor of the program's 20-year anniversary, we will count down the 20 days leading up to 2015 season opener on Feb. 6 against Ohio by reflecting on each Tennessee softball team, starting with the first-ever squad in 1996. We will also count down the days by jersey number, reflecting on the past players who wore that day's countdown number.
The 1998 team went 37-31 and its roster featured Jackie Beavers, Sarah Ayres, Maura Mollet, Lisa Warren, Kelli Glass, Kelli Fitzgerald, Buffy Walker, Kenyail Norris, Jenny Steele, Jodi Ramirez, Cherrae Rushton, April Phillips and Carrie Swinford.
In danger of missing the SEC Tournament, Tennessee took care of business at the end of the regular season with a four-game road sweep at Kentucky, notching 6-1, 11-1 (5), 5-3 and 11-2 (5) wins over the Wildcats. Ramirez earned SEC Player of the Week honors as she battled illness and fatigue to hit a sizzling .500 with seven RBIs and a grand slam against Kentucky.
Tennessee earned its first SEC Tournament win in 1998. After falling to eventual champion Alabama, 2-1, on May 8 in the first round of the double-elimination tournament, the Lady Vols rallied to defeat Arkansas, 2-1, later in the day. Glass tied the game at 1-1 and broke up a no-hitter with a solo blast in the fifth and Rushton knocked an RBI single up the middle with bases loaded and two down in the seventh.
Fitzgerald led the team with a .356 batting average, 43 runs and 23 doubles. Warren hit .344 with five homers, eight doubles and 33 RBIs. Fitzgerald and Norris garnered Second Team All-SEC accolades. Fitzgerald was also an All-South Region selection.
Ayres emerged as the team's ace, going 22-17 with a 2.23 ERA, 99 strikeouts and six shutouts over 260.1 frames.
Ramirez became the first Tennessee player to be named a First Team Academic All-American.
JERSEY COUNTDOWN - #18
| No. 18 | |||||||||||
| No. | Player | Years | Pos. | GP-GS | Avg. | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB |
| 18 | Lisa Wyatt | 1996-97 | 1B | 135-135 | .374 | 428 | 98 | 160 | 12 | 101 | 21 |
| 18 | Anita Manuma | 2007-08 | UT | 84-51 | .218 | 147 | 16 | 32 | 4 | 19 | 0 |
Looking Back...#18 Lisa Wyatt
1996-97 | 1B | 5-5 | R/R | Cincinnati, Ohio
Wyatt was a member of the inaugural Tennessee softball team in 1996 after an All-American career at Daytona Beach CC. She was one of UT's first stars, hitting .386 with eight homers 18 doubles, 63 RBIs, 64 runs and 11 stolen bases in the program's 1996 debut season. She garnered NFCA First-Team All-South Region honors in 1997 after batting .361 with four homers, 12 doubles, 38 RBIs, 34 runs and 10 stolen bases. Wyatt's .374 career average is tied for seventh on UT's batting list and her .533 career slugging percentage ranks ninth.
THROWBACK NOTES FROM HER BIO!
- Cites her greatest pre-UT softball feat as hitting a grand slam in the 1995 Florida state championship game
- Amassed several academic honors over her career and points to the great academic support given to UT athletes as the most significant reason she chose Tennessee
#18 Anita Manuma
2007-08 | UT | 5-7 | R/R | Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Manuma saw action in 84 contests and made 51 starts for the Orange and White. She hit .234 in 2007 with two homers, four doubles, seven RBIs and eight runs. In 2008, she batted .200 with two homers, two doubles, 12 RBIs and eight runs.
THROWBACK NOTES FROM HER BIO!
- Among the famous persons she most admires, Anita lists the late University of Tennessee and NFL legend Reggie White
- Her uncle, Jesse Sapolu, played 13 seasons (183 games) and was part of four Super Bowl championship teams for the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL from 1983-1997
