University of Tennessee Athletics
20 for 20: 2 Days Til Softball Season
February 04, 2015 | Softball
Only two days left until the start of the 2015 Tennessee softball season! Today we look back at the 2014 Lady Vols -- Tennessee's seventh NCAA Super Regional team!
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.
Tennessee went 46-12 in 2014, making its seventh NCAA Super Regional in the last 10 seasons. The Big Orange has won at least 40 games in each of its last 12 seasons. Tennessee went 17-7 in SEC play and stormed through the NCAA Knoxville Regional, run-ruling Charleston Southern and Virginia Tech and defeating Lipscomb, 2-0, to advance to Super Regionals. The team set a single-game school record with six home runs in a 12-0 (5) win over the Hokies. Lexi Overstreet hit a two-run homer in the sixth against Lipscomb to punch UT's ticket to Supers. The Lady Vols battled hard in Norman Super Regional, bouncing back from an 8-1 Game 1 loss with a 4-0 Game 2 victory. However the Sooners ended Tennessee's season for the second-straight year in Game 3 of the Super Regional.
The 2014 roster featured Jennifer Burroughs, Anna Renfroe, Taylor Koenig, Shaliyah Geathers, Hannah Devotie, Hannah McDonald, Alley Perkins, Hannah Akamine, Ellen Renfroe, Megan Geer, Melissa Davin, Lexi Overstreet, Haley Tobler, Erin Gabriel, Annie Aldrete, Rainey Gaffin, Madison Shipman and Cheyanne Tarango.
UT won just about every major award in softball in 2014. Madison Shipman was named the Honda Sports Award Winner for Softball, the Senior CLASS Award Winner, an NFCA First-Team All-American, a Capital One Academic All-American and the SEC Player of the Year. Annie Aldrete was the co-winner of the inaugural NFCA Freshman of the Year and also earned All-America and All-SEC honors. Ellen Renfroe was named the Capital One Academic All-American of the Year and the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Melissa Davin enjoyed a fine season, earning First Team All-SEC honors and All-Southeast Region accolades with Aldrete, Shipman and Renfroe.
Shipman enjoyed a stellar senior campaign, hitting .417 with 18 homers, 16 doubles and 54 RBIs. Aldrete burst onto the scene with an incredible rookie season, hitting .361 with a school-record-tying 19 homers, 65 RBIs and 14 doubles. Renfroe became just the second UT pitcher to throw for 200 strikeouts in each season and finished with a 30-8 record, a 2.02 ERA and 245 strikeouts. Gaffin tossed a no-hitter vs. Wright State in her first start in the circle.
JERSEY COUNTDOWN - #2
| No. 2 | |||||||||||
| No. | Player | Years | Pos. | GP-GS | Avg. | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB |
| 2 | Nikki Sexton | 80-46 | C/OF | 80-46 | .161 | 112 | 18 | 18 | 2 | 9 | 8 |
| 2 | Brittany Bessho | 2004-05 | C/IF | 110-64 | .229 | 192 | 15 | 44 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| 2 | Alicia Brown | 2006 | OF | 58-0 | .200 | 5 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | Tiffany Baker | 2007 (RS) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2 | Kelly Grieve | 2008-11 | OF | 236 | .370 | 717 | 183 | 265 | 8 | 97 | 104 |
| 2 | Jennifer Burroughs | 2013-14 | OF | 37-0 | .000 | 1 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Looking Back...#2 Kelly Grieve
2008-11 | OF | 5-4 | L/R | Asheville, N,C.
Kelly Grieve was a pure athlete who possessed both speed and power. She was a fiery competitor who ranks as one of UT's all-time greatest hitters and stolen-base artists. Grieve ranks in Tennessee's top 10 in career batting average (.370, 10th), at-bats (717, 10th), runs (183, 8th), hits (265, 8th), triples (12, t-3rd), stolen bases (104, 3rd), stolen base attempts (123, 3rd) and sacrifice hits (22, t-10th). Grieve enjoyed a breakout sophomore year in 2009, hitting .393 with four doubles, four triples, 23 RBis, 48 runs and 39 stolen bases in route to earning Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Southeast Region honors. She hit over .370 in each of her final two seasons, batting .373 with a career-high 12 doubles and 59 runs as a junior in 2010 while helping UT to its fourth WCWS. In 2011, Grieve helped Tennessee win the SEC Tournament title, batting .376 with nine doubles, four triples, five homers 37 RBIs, 48 runs and 21 stolen bases. She would earn All-SEC honors and SEC All-Defensive Team honors as a senior in 2011. Grieve, who was a two-time "Watch List" player for the USA Softball Player of the Year was also a stellar student, becoming a Top 27 Finalist for the Lowe's Senior Class Award in 2011 and earning First-Team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District IV accolades in 2010. She won gold medals with the U.S. Senior National Team at the World Cup of Softball VI and XVI Pan American Games in the summer of 2011. She was selected by the Arkon Racers in the 2011 NPF draft.
THROWBACK NOTES FROM HER BIO!
- Enjoys swimming, going to the beach, reading, movies and traveling
- Spends time outside of softball participating in her church youth group and volunteering at vet hospitals
- Has an older brother, Dustin, and a twin sister, Kasey
