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Feb. 21, 2009

Box Score

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - Behind senior hurler Danielle Pieroni's first collegiate pitching victory and first-inning, two-run homers from juniors Tiffany Huff and Erinn Webb, No. 9 Tennessee (14-1) wrapped up a perfect 5-0 stay at the Cathedral City Classic in Cathedral City, Calif., on Saturday afternoon with a 4-0 shutout of Oregon State. UT has now won 15 of its last 21 match-ups against Pacific 10 Conference foes, dating back to the start of the 2005 season.

Entering the contest in a relief pitching role in the third, Pieroni was outstanding, allowing just three OSU hits and striking out three in five innings of work. Freshman Cat Hosfield started the match-up against the Beavers and tossed the opening two frames, walking two and permitting a pair of hits with a K.

Offensively, the big story was an early power display as a Kelly Grieve single and a Jessica Spigner two-bagger were eventually cashed in during the opening frame on long Huff (2-for-4, two RBIs) and Webb (1-for-3, two RBIs) blasts. Freshman shortstop Ashley Andrews added a pair of hits in three at-bats.

During the prestigious Cathedral City Classic, Tennessee hit .308 as a team with four doubles, seven home runs and 13 stolen bases in 14 attempts. Freshman third baseman Jessica Spigner led the team by hitting a sterling .500 overall (7-of-14) with a pair of doubles and two home runs. Fellow rookie Shelby Burchell (.333) contributed three big flies at the event to raise her team-best HR total to five in her initial 15 games played. Freshman shortstop Ashley Andrews (.429) and senior left fielder Lillian Hammond (.421) each slapped at better than a .400 clip, while the latter swiped five bases in five attempts. Junior catcher/first baseman Tiffany Huff and Burchell each led the squad with six RBIs during the tourney. Huff now owns a team-best 27 RBIs on the year.

Hosfield fired 25.1 innings at the event, recording a 4-0 record with a 1.11 ERA, two complete games and 27 K's while opponents hit her at just a .143 clip.

"Our team showed a lot of character coming back twice to beat Cal Poly this morning as visitors and beat a good Oregon State team 4-0," Lady Vol co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. "In the opener Tiffany Huff's double set the stage for a big homer from Jessica Spigner. Lillian Hammond's game-winning single in the eighth was just a super clutch hit. The game against Oregon State was all about Danielle Pieroni. She pitched phenomenally against a strong hitting team and deserved the win. Huff and Webb's homers versus OSU were mammoth and timely. During the event our outfielders crashed through the wall three times to make huge catches. We're happy to leave this tournament 5-0 and look forward to getting back to Knoxville for our home opener on Tuesday."

The slugging from the earlier match-up with Cal Poly continued into the top of the first against Oregon State and pitcher Paige Hall as Grieve got things started by beating out an infield single to short. After a Hammond fly out into short left, Huff blasted a homer to deep left, her second of the season, granting Tennessee a quick 2-0 lead. Spigner kept the assault going by ripping a shot into the left center field gap for a double. Webb stepped into the box and hammered the first pitch she received from Hall deep over the fence in right for her initial big fly of the campaign as the UT advantage swelled to 4-0. That was enough for Oregon State head coach Kirk Walker as he promptly summoned in right hander Kelly Dyer in relief. The move paid dividends as the new pitcher managed to retire Burchell and sophomore first baseman Jen Lapicki. The damage had been done, however, as four scores crossed via four hits with two home runs.

Hosfield opened the bottom half of the first by handling a grounder back to the circle from OSU left fielder Ashley Sanchez. The 5-9 righty struck out center fielder Dani Chisholm before running into some two-out trouble. Oregon State second baseman Paige Lowe laced a double down the line in left and was soon joined on the base paths by shortstop Audrey Roderfeld via walk. Catcher Stef Ewing grounded an offering down to third that Spigner handled on one bounce. The Santa Clarita, Calif., native turned and dove for the third base bag, just beating Lowe to retire the side with no damage.

Both squads stranded a base runner at first in the second frame, setting the stage for UT to get its offense going again in the top of the third. Huff started the inning off by improving to 2-for-2 in the contest with a sharp single through the right side of the infield. Spigner followed with a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance the runner into scoring position. Unfortunately a strikeout ended the inning with Huff occupying second.

Hosfield's stay in the circle ended in the bottom of the third as Sanchez ripped a pitch into center field for a lead-off single. Pieroni entered the contest and battled Chisholm to a full count before the hitter made contact. The ball traveled straight to Lapicki at first as the Oldwick, N.J., native made the catch, turned and beat the runner to the bag for a huge double play. The frame ended as Oregon State's Paige Lowe popped a ball back to the circle that Pieroni caught back-handed.

With one retired in the top of the fourth, junior right fielder Nicole Kajitani blasted a shot to deep right center. Perhaps it was karmic revenge for Grieve's two home run-robbing plays during the weekend, but OSU center fielder Chisholm raced over into right center and made a catch of Kajitani's shot before crashing through the temporary fencing.

Oregon State's Roderfeld christened the bottom of the fourth by delivering a base hit to short. Ewing and first baseman DeAnn Young each hit into fielder's choice plays that cut down the lead runner at second. With two outs in the inning, OSU right fielder Tarah Black hammered a towering shot to deep left. Hammond drifted back to the fence and joined Grieve in the Lady Vol defensive highlight package by making the grab before falling through the temporary fencing.

Webb just missed another home run in the top of the fifth as Chisholm tracked down a long fly while bumping into the fencing as the defensive mastery in the outfield continued for both teams.

With Pieroni in firm control of the Beaver line-up, Kajitani walked and Andrews delivered a single to left with two retired in the top of the sixth. Grieve made solid contact with a Dyer pitch driving it into center field but right at Chisholm as Tennessee left a pair stranded on the base paths.

Desperately needing a rally with time growing short, the Beavers received a two-out base knock back up the middle in the bottom of the sixth from Ewing. OSU's Young blooped a promising ball to center, but it traveled too far as Grieve raced in to make the inning-ending catch.

Pieroni wrapped up her first collegiate win by getting Black to line out to short, Dyer to fly out to deep left and caught pinch hitter Katelyn Miller looking at strike three.

Coming up next for the Big Orange will be the 2009 Tennessee home opener against Liberty at Lee Softball Stadium on Tuesday, Feb. 24th at 3 p.m. Live stats will be available through utladyvols.com via Gametracker.