University of Tennessee Athletics
20 for 20: 17 Days Til Softball Season
January 20, 2015 | Softball
Only 17 days left until the start of the 2015 Tennessee softball season! Sixteen years ago the 1999 team became the first Tennessee team to earn an NCAA Regional berth.
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 1999 team was the first of 12 Tennessee teams to earn an NCAA Regional berth. The Lady Vols won the SEC Eastern Division for the first time and Jim Betia's club earned an at-large bit to one of the eight regional sites. UT traveled to Seattle, Wash., for the double-elimination tournament hosted by Washington. Tennessee came up short in losses to Cal State Fullerton and UW, but the Lady Vols started a winning tradition and set a standard of reaching the national tournament that UT's teams would meet consistently from 2004 to 2014.
The Lady Vols proved they could hang with the nation's elite, going 8-6 against top 10 teams. The team's power hitting played a big role in its success as it cranked out 122 doubles (second-most in school history), 47 homers (seventh) and a .471 slugging percentage (sixth).
The 1999 roster included Jackie Beavers, Sarah Ayers, Maura Mollet, Lisa Warren, Kelli Glass, Kelli Fitzgerald, Buffy Walker, Nadia Cameron, Kenyail Norris, Nicole Murray, Jenny Steele, Adrianna Wilson, Maria Torres, Kara Wingate, Amanda Venable, April Phillips and Carrie Swinford.
Warren led the team with a .403 batting average, 98 hits, 66 runs and 18 stolen bases. Norris hit .367 with 10 homers and 49 RBIs and Swinford hit .325 with 11 homers and a team-best 69 RBIs. Fitzgerald, Norris, Swinford, Venable and Warren each earned Second Team All-SEC honors. Norris, Swinford and Wilson garnered All-South Region accolades and Norris was named an Academic All-American.
JERSEY COUNTDOWN - #17
| No. 17 | |||||||||||
| No. | Player | Years | Pos. | GP-GS | Avg. | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB |
| 17 | Bridget Jackson | 1996-97 | 3B/1B | 135-133 | .383 | 423 | 117 | 162 | 17 | 117 | 12 |
| 17 | Adrianna Wilson | 1999-2002 | C | 248-240 | .296 | 655 | 55 | 194 | 30 | 132 | 2 |
| 17 | Kristen Bass | 2003 | C/OF | 16-2 | .143 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 17 | Lillian Hammond | 2006-09 | OF | 228-136 | .339 | 410 | 136 | 139 | 1 | 26 | 72 |
| 17 | Chelsea O'Connor | 2011 | OF | 48-19 | .242 | 66 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| 17 | Gretchen Aucoin | 2015 | P/IF | ||||||||
| No. 17 | |||||||||||
| No. | Player | Years | Pos. | ERA | W-L | GS | CG | SH | IP | SO | |
| 17 | Gretchen Aucoin | 2015 | P/IF | ||||||||
Looking Back...#17 Bridget Jackson
1996-97 | 3B/1B | 5-6 | R/R | Glendale, Ariz.
Jackson was the first major star in Tennessee softball history and was the first softball inductee of the Lady Vol Hall of Fame (2007). She joined Tennessee after an All-American career at Central Arizona CC, leading Vaqueras to the 1995 junior college national championship. She burst onto the scene in 1996, leading the team with a .427 batting average, 94 hits, 15 homers, 24 doubles, 72 runs and 77 RBIs. Her 74 runs and 24 doubles that year remain UT single-season records to this day. In 1997, Jackson hit .335 with two homers 10 doubles, three triples, 40 RBIs and 43 runs and earned First-Team All-SEC accolades. Jackson was also a standout student in the classroom, earning Verizon Academic All-District and NFCA Scholar-Athlete team honors in 2007.
THROWBACK NOTES FROM HER BIO!
- Top ambition is to make it to the Women's College World Series
- Older sister Analisa Jackson played for former UT coach Jim Betia when he was at Oklahoma
#17 Adrianna Wilson
1999-2002 | C | 5-9 | R/R | Cypress, Calif.
Wilson was one of the best sluggers in UT history. She tallied 30 career homers (third-most in Tennessee history) and was UT's career home run queen from 2002 to 2007 when Tonya Callahan broke her record. Wilson also tallied 55 runs and 132 RBIs while batting .296 for her career. She saved her best for last, enjoying a career year as a senior in 2002 with .362 batting average, 12 homers, eight doubles, 45 RBIs and 26 runs. She was a two-time NFCA All-South Region pick, earning first-team honors in 2002.
THROWBACK NOTES FROM HER BIO!
- Nicknamed "Willie" by her teammates
- Collects turtles
#17 Lillian Hammond
2006-09 | OF | 5-8 | L/R | Chattanooga, Tenn.
Through hard work and dedication, Hammond climbed her way up the depth chart over her four-year career, making the leap from a pinch-runner to an everyday starter and top-of-the-lineup staple. During her 2007 sophomore year, she cracked the lineup and finished with a .414 batting average, 30 runs and 14 stolen bases. She followed that with strong junior and senior campaigns, batting .349 with 10 RBIs, 46 runs and 23 stolen bases in 2008 and hitting .309 with nine RBIs, 40 runs and 27 stolen bases in 2009. Hammond earned NFCA Second-Team All-South Region accolades in 2008. She also excelled in the classroom and was a three-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American (2007-09) and earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. She was later selected in the 2009 NPF draft by the Philadelphia Force.
THROWBACK NOTES FROM HER BIO!
- Favorite TV show: ER, One Tree Hill
- I wear No. 17 because...."That was my number during my freshman year of high school."
- Is older sister of Tennessee softball alum Whitney Hammond (2010-13)
#17 Gretchen Aucoin
2015 | P/IF | 5-11 | L/R | Ocean Springs, Miss.
Aucoin joins Tennessee in 2015 after playing her freshman and sophomore seasons at Texas Tech, where she established herself as a talented pitcher and hitter. In the circle, she is coming off a strong 2014 season in which she went 14-9 with a 2.43 ERA and 141 strikeouts over 132.1 innings. She also hit .287 with seven homers and 31 RBIs as a sophomomore. She was a 2014 NFCA All-Central Region First Team selection. For her career, she has a 2.72 ERA, a 20-12 record, 217 strikeouts, 11 complete games and three shutouts over 193.0 innings, 61 appearances and 30 starts. Aucoin is a .299 career hitter with eight homers, seven doubles and 40 RBIs. Look for the Ocean Springs, Miss., native to play a big role in Tennessee's success this season.
NOTES FROM HER BIO!
- Was a 3-time Big 12 Pitcher of the Week in 2014
- Only played basketball for Ocean Springs High School in order to concentrate on the travel ball circuit
- Was her high school's 2011 Homecoming Queen
