May 18, 2008

KNOXVILLE – No. 13 Tennessee (50-16) was cruising along with loads of momentum and a 1-0 lead before a 56-minute, fourth-inning rain delay brought things to a screeching halt and changed the complexion of the contest as No. 16 Virginia Tech (47-16) rallied for four runs, immediately after the resumption of play, to slide past the Lady Vols and clinch the Knoxville Regional championship as well as a berth to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time in their program’s history.

UT sophomore center fielder Erinn Webb continued her incredible day versus the Hokies by recording her third home run over two contests and a career-high 10th big fly of the season as part of a 2-for-3 effort. In fact, the Hemet, Calif., native hit a squad-best .529 (9-of-17) with two doubles, a triple, three homers and six RBIs during the five games of the Knoxville Regional. Senior third baseman Tonya Callahan was 1-for-2 in her final game wearing the Orange & White and registered her team-high 62nd RBI of the campaign while hitting .333 during the event.

The senior class consisting of Callahan, Megan Rhodes, Kenora Posey, Caitlin Ryan and Shannon Doepking concluded their careers on Rocky Top having served as part of the foundation for establishing major success in the Tennessee softball program. As a group, they played a significant role in four consecutive 50-win seasons (three won 60 or more games), helped UT to three straight Women College World Series berths with finishes of third, third and second overall in the country, contributed to the initial Southeastern Conference regular-season (2007) and tournament titles (2006) in program annals and tallied a staggering 241-51 record over four campaigns. They also helped Tennessee become the first SEC team to achieve a No. 1 ranking in the national polls during the 2007 season, staying there for a record 11 straight weeks.

“First I would like to give credit to Virginia Tech,” Lady Vol co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. “They came back from adversity much the same as we did against Michigan a couple of years ago when Monica got lit up in the first game and we pulled her out and came back with her in the second game. The second thing I want to say is that I am really proud of our kids. We won 50 games this year after losing seven players, six of which were starters, from last year. I think they achieved a heck of a lot, and I’m just really proud of them. Karen and I are proud of them. It was a battle, and at least we took them to the wire. I still think she [Angela Tincher] is the best pitcher in America, and I think Megan battled with her pitch-for-pitch all the way.

With Rhodes having retired the Hokies in order in the top of the first, the Big Orange struck without the benefit of a hit in the bottom half. Junior left fielder Lillian Hammond reached via a throwing error committed by Virginia Tech hurler Angela Tincher on a ball that bounced back to the circle. With the runner at second, a passed ball on catcher Kelsey Hoffman advanced Hammond up 60 feet to third. A perfect squeeze bunt off the bat of Callahan plated the contest’s opening score as Tennessee nabbed a quick 1-0 advantage.

After setting down seven consecutive batters, Rhodes fell behind right fielder Whitney Davis 3-0 with one down in the top of the third before battling back to 3-2 and inducing a routine fly out to freshman right fielder Kelly Grieve. The Nashville, Tenn., native ended the inning from the circle one-two-three by striking out left fielder Caroline Stolle on a full count rise ball.

Second baseman Erin Ota tallied the Hokies’ first base knock of the contest with one out in the top of the fourth on a sharp shot back up the middle. Third baseman Charisse Mariconda popped a ball up on the infield that Lapicki squeezed for the second out. With that, the heavens opened up at 6:55 p.m. ET forcing a lengthy rain delay as the field crew was called upon to roll the tarp out on the field. Following the 56-minute break, Rhodes fired a strike past Misty Hall as the game re-commenced. On a 2-2 pitch, Hall lifted a towering fly deep down the left field and just beyond the wall granting the Hokies a shocking 2-1 lead. The break seemed to disrupt the flow that Rhodes had been in prior to the delay as she next issued a walk to Hoffman and was lifted in favor of freshman reliever Ward. The Charlotte, N.C., product was greeted with a double into left field by Everhart that plated Hoffman all the way from first for a 3-1 advantage. A two-out fielding error on the UT infield kept the inning alive, allowing the opportunity for Davis to deliver an RBI single into right, scoring Tech’s fourth tally.

With UT having wasted a lead-off single in the bottom of the fifth, Huff tried to get something started with two down in the sixth by lacing a two-out double the opposite way and down the left field line into the corner. Unfortunately, Tincher forced Doepking to foul out just outside of first base concluding the frame.

Rhodes kept the Hokies off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh, granting the Lady Vols one final chance to dig out of a three-run hole. With one out, Webb did what she could by blasting a towering solo shot deep over the center field wall, her third of the day and 10th of the season. Virginia Tech’s Tincher didn’t let the big fly rattle her, however, as she ended the contest with a strikeout and by forcing a ground ball to short to clinch the title for the Hokies.

Game One

Sophomore center fielder Erinn Webb blasted two home runs as part of a 3-for-4 effort at the plate and knocked in three to back a solid outing in the circle by senior Megan Rhodes as No. 14 Tennessee (50-15) defeated No. 17 Virginia Tech (46-16) on Sunday, 7-1, to force a deciding game to determine the winner of the Knoxville Regional. The triumph marked the 50th of the season for UT, upping the program’s count to five consecutive 50-win campaigns and six overall dating back to the program’s inception in 1996.

The Big Orange offense recorded 11 hits for the second straight contest after downing Louisville 8-1 on Saturday evening. In addition to Webb’s outstanding performance, sophomore catcher Tiffany Huff contributed a 1-for-4 effort with a two-RBI double during a big first inning rally. Freshman right fielder Kelly Grieve and junior left fielder Lillian Hammond each went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while senior designated player Shannon Doepking tallied an RBI via a groundout.

By allowing just three hits and no runs over 6.2 innings, senior pitcher Megan Rhodes improved her record to 23-10 on the season. Freshman pitcher Ashton Ward permitted a single run in just 0.1 innings of relief with a walk and a K.

After being three-hit by Tincher in Saturday’s contest, Tennessee wasted zero time jumping all over the Virginia Tech All-American in the top of the first inning on Sunday. With one out, freshman second baseman Chandra Mogan, senior third baseman Tonya Callahan and Doepking drew consecutive walks to load the bases. Huff stepped into the box and blasted an offering over left fielder Caroline Stolle’s head and off the wall plating a pair for a quick 2-0 Lady Vol advantage. Tincher rebounded to register consecutive strikeouts to escape a second and third jam, but the early damage had been done as UT scored in the opening frame for the 29th time (23-5 overall in such contests to that point) in the ’08 campaign.

Rhodes rolled through the bottom half of the first with a punch out of Virginia Tech lead-off hitter Jenna Rhodes and a pair of quality defensive plays. On a sharp shot just past a diving Jen Lapicki at first from Tech’s Erin Ota, Mogan backed up her teammate, corralling the ball and racing over just in time to step on first ahead of the runner. With two down, Callahan nabbed a sharp shot off the bat of Charisse Mariconda and tossed across the diamond to conclude the one-two-three inning.

Grieve christened the top of the second by just beating out an infield single to third. A sacrifice bunt from Posey advanced the runner into scoring position. With Hammond standing at the dish and a 2-1 count, Tincher unleashed a strike two pitch that may have been mistaken for strike three by Hokie catcher Kelsey Hoffman. The back-stop threw down to first, and with no one occupying the base, the catcher’s errant toss traveled down the right field line into the corner as Grieve scored from second for a 3-0 lead. Hammond ripped a single through the left side and was joined on the bases on an infield hit from Mogan. That ended the day in the circle for Tincher as Virginia Tech head coach Scot Thomas brought on Kenzie Roark in relief. The second error of the inning, this one on a ground ball from Callahan to shortstop Misty Hall loaded the bags with just one out. Doepking bounced out to second base as Hammond scored to make it 4-0. A routine bouncer back to the circle ended things but not before the Tennessee advantage had expanded to four scores.

After retiring seven straight Hokies into the bottom of the third, Rhodes permitted her first hit of the contest, allowing Tech right fielder Whitney Davis to lace a double into the right center field gap with one out. The Nashville, Tenn., native responded to the threat from the circle by inducing a routine infield pop-up from Stolle and got an out off a bunt attempt from Rhodes to leave the runner stranded in scoring position.

A lead-off walk to Ota and a hard base knock into left field from Mariconda placed a pair aboard for the Hokies leading off the bottom of the fourth. An outstanding play on a slow roller by Posey at short retired Hall with both runners advancing 60 feet into scoring position with just one out. Hoffman fouled out to Callahan just short of third base to move Tennessee closer to avoiding any damage on the scoreboard. Everhart popped up routinely to third ending the frame and upping the “left on-base” total to three for the Hokies.

The lead grew to 5-0 in the top of the fifth on the eighth home run of the season off the bat of Webb. The solo blast cleared the wall just off to right center field.

Ward entered in relief starting the bottom of the fifth and immediately gave up a towering solo home run to Walker that traveled over the scoreboard in left center field and cut the gap to 5-1. After a strikeout, Ward walked Stolle and co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly brought Rhodes back into the contest. She allowed an infield single to Jenna Rhodes placing two aboard with one retired. Posey made a leaping grab of a liner off the bat of Ota for a vital second out. The 5-8 right hander worked to a full count against Mariconda before inducing a fly out into Hammond’s glove in left.

Hammond opened the top of the sixth for the Lady Vols with a clean single to center and was joined on the base paths via a one-out walk issued to Callahan after a 12-pitch at-bat. Unfortunately nothing came of the threat as UT bounced into an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play.

Webb’s amazing contest continued in the top of the seventh after Lapicki had delivered a one-out single. The Hemet, Calif., native blasted her second home run of the contest, her ninth of the campaign, over the right center field wall as Tennessee nabbed a commanding 7-1 lead.

Down to their last chance the Hokies managed to get a one-out base occupant in the bottom of the seventh as right fielder Whitney Davis drew a free pass. Posey handled a sharp liner to short from Stolle, and Rhodes grounded out to force a deciding game for the Knoxville Regional title at 6:10 p.m. ET.