University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
South Carolina
Lady Vols Split At Home With #18 South Carolina
April 01, 2000 | Softball
On a picturesque afternoon, the Tennessee Lady Vol softball team and 18th-ranked South Carolina split a doubleheader at Tyson Park on Saturday. In a tightly contested first game, the Lady Gamecocks used a one-out, two-run home run to pull out a 4-2 victory over UT. The Orange and White would then earn a split of the day's action with a 16-4 romp in the teams' second encounter. UT is now 16-17 overall and 4-7 in the SEC, while South Carolina is 27-15 and 8-7 in league play.
In the opener, it appeared as though extra innings might be needed to decide the outcome of the contest as the game was deadlocked at two apiece entering the decisive seventh inning. Freshman pitcher Leslie Poole got USC's freshman first baseman Danielle Quinones to fly out to junior center fielder Holly Ellison for the first out of the inning before allowing a walk to senior shortstop Kendra McCutcheon. Lady Gamecock right fielder Joyce McMillin then turned on a 1-1 Poole offering and connected for a two-run home run over the left-center field fence for a 4-2 USC advantage. The Lady Vols were then retired in order in the bottom half of the inning to end the game.
Poole, who went the distance, fell to 4-5, while South Carolina's sophomore pitcher Megan Matthews improved to 16-10 with the triumph.
Tennessee was led at the dish from a 2-for-4 afternoon from junior catcher Maura Mollet. The Lady Vols also garnered hits from Ellison (1), junior Janette Koshell (1), junior Melissa Radley, sophomore Maria Torres (1) and senior Amanda Venable (1). The Orange and White scored their first run when Ellison singled in Radley in the bottom of the fourth inning. Mollet followed that with a double to right center to score Ellison all the way from first base for the second run.
In game two, Venable was 3-for-4, and the quintet of Ellison, Koshell, Mollet, Radley and Wilson each contributed two hits. In all, the Orange out-hit the Lady Gamecocks, 14-7. For South Carolina, only freshman Debralee Troesh finished with more than one hit in the contest as she recorded two.
Tennessee would break a 2-1 game open in the third inning with an 11-run effort. The Lady Vols would bat around in the inning as 14 UT batters would take their cuts. South Carolina and McMillin would be hurt in the inning by three errors. Freshman Nicole Murray led off the inning with a single before Radley reached on an error. With two on, Koshell would then get on base via an error by the USC third baseman before advancing to second on the throw home attempting to nail Murray at the dish. Venable then laced a double to left field scoring Radley and Koshell. McMillin then plucked Torres with the first pitch following the Venable double. Following singles from Mollet, Ellison, Radley, and Koshell the Lady Vols put the game away when Venable crushed McMillin's 2-0 pitch over the left field fence for a three-run bomb and an 12-2 UT lead. The home run was the fifth of the campaign for Venable. Tennessee would tack on four more runs in the fourth before the game was called by the mercy rule after the top of the fifth inning.
Despite pitching well, senior pitcher Jackie Beavers left the contest before she could qualify for the decision. In 2.2 innings, Beavers allowed four runs off seven USC hits. Pitching 1.2 innings of relief, Poole evened her record at 5-5 while McMillin took the loss and dropped to 10-5 on the year.
The Lady Vols will round out weekend action with a single game versus the Lady Gamecocks on Sunday. The game will begin at 1 p.m. at Tyson Park.
