University of Tennessee Athletics
20 for 20: 1 Day Til Softball Season
February 05, 2015 | Softball
There's only one day left until the start of the 2015 Tennessee softball season! Today we look back at Tennessee's 20th softball team, the 2015 Lady Vols!
Tennessee celebrates its 20th year of softball in 2015. In honor of the program's 20-year anniversary, we have been counting 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 have been counting down the days by jersey number, reflecting on the past players who wore that day's countdown number.
Tennessee opens its 2015 season Feb. 6-8 with games against Ohio, Dayton, Kennesaw State and Northern Kentucky in the KSU Classic at Bailey Park in Kennesaw, Ga. UT starts the season at No. 13 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and No. 14 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll. It is the 11th-straight year that Tennessee opens up ranked in both polls. SEC coaches picked Tennessee to finish eighth in the conference in the league's annual preseason poll. This year's team will look to continue Tennessee's stretch of dominance over the last decade (53-win average over last 10 years).
Co-head coaches Ralph Weekly and Karen Weekly begin their 14th season at the helm of the program. Ralph Weekly enters the year with a 1,165-381-2 career record. Karen Weekly begins the season with a 887-297-2 record. The Weeklys are 664-200-2 at Tennessee.
UT returns five positional starters and three pitchers from last year's staff, including All-American catcher Annie Aldrete, who tie the program record with 19 homers in 2014. Tennessee has 10 returning veterans and eight newcomers, including junior transfer pitcher Gretchen Aucoin.
The 2015 squad is young with 12 of its 18 players in their freshman or sophomore seasons. Tennessee plans to counter inexperience with its depth and wealth of talent. The 2014 signing class (current freshman) was ranked No. 6 in the nation by StudentSports.com (now known as FullCountSoftball.com) and the sophomore class was a top 10 class as well.
Several of UT's young stars have already achieved national recognition. Freshmen Meghan Gregg and CJ McClain competed at the U.S. Junior Women's National Team Selection Camp and Gregg made the team that will compete this summer at the ISF Junior Women's World Championship and the World Cup of Softball X.
Aldrete was named to the USA Softball Women's National Team last month as well as the Top 50 "Watch List" for USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year. She was also named to the Preseason All-SEC team.
Tennessee opens the year on the road with three non-conference tournaments before its home opener against Georgia Tech on Feb. 24.
JERSEY COUNTDOWN - #1
| No. 1 | |||||||||||
| No. | Player | Years | Pos. | GP-GS | Avg. | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB |
| 1 | Jackie Beavers | 1996-2000 | P | 6-2 | .250 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1 | Christy Anch | 2003-04 | P | 47-17 | .148 | 54 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 1 | LaDonna Oliver | 2005 | OF | 60-0 | .429 | 7 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 | Liane Horiuchi | 2007-07 | 2B/SS | 142-134 | .238 | 286 | 64 | 68 | 5 | 27 | 23 |
| 1 | Kelsey Stander | 2008 | OF | 54-2 | .571 | 7 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 1 | Megan Givens | 2010 | OF | 45-2 | .208 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 1 | Hannah Trainer | 2012-13 | IF | 52-0 | .500 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 1 | Jessica Adell | 2015 | |||||||||
| No. 1 | |||||||||||
| No. | Player | Years | Pos. | ERA | W-L | GS | CG | SH | IP | SO | |
| 1 | Jackie Beavers | 1996-2000 | P | 1.84 | 76-47 | 121 | 92 | 25 | 768.1 | 335 | |
| 1 | Christy Anch | 2003-04 | P | 3.24 | 6-5 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 84.1 | 56 | |
Looking Back...#1 Jackie Beavers
1996-2000 | P | 5-7 | R/R | Warren, Ohio
Jackie Beavers was Tennessee's first ace in the circle. In UT's inaugural year, she went 24-7 with a 1.33 ERA and 98 strikeouts over 215.2 frames. She went 13-10 with a1.49 ERA and 43 strikeouts over 127.0 frames as a sophomore in 1997 and missed most of 1998 due to injury, earning a medical redshirt. She came back strong in 1999, going 24-12 with a 1.94 ERA and 83 strikeouts over 223.2 frames. She also tossed UT's second-ever no-hitter on April 20, 1999, throwing five hitless innings with three strikeouts against Chattanooga. Beavers led the team in the circle once again as a fifth-year senior in 2000, going 15-18 with a 2.50 ERA a 111 strikeouts and earning team MVP honors. Beavers career numbers of 151 appearances, 121 starts, 76 wins and 768 innings pitched were UT records that stood until the Monica Abbott era re-wrote the record book from 2004-07. Beavers still ranks in the top 10 in nearly every Tennessee pitching category.
THROWBACK NOTES FROM HER BIO!
- Enjoys shopping, dancing, skiing and going to the movies
- Played on the same club team as Tennessee teammate Carrie Swinford
Looking Ahead...#1 Jessica Adell
2015 | OF | 5-6 | L/R | Prospect, Ky.
Adell begins her Tennessee career this week after an accomplished high school career. She was a 2014 NFCA High School First Team All-American and the 2012-13 Gatorade Kentucky Softball Player of the Year. Look for Adell to make an impact in 2015!
THROWBACK NOTES FROM HER BIO!
- Modeled her game after Tennessee softball legend India Chiles
- Her father Gordon Scott Adell played football at North Carolina State (offensive tackle) and was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the 12th round of the 1992 draft with the 330th pick
