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March 22, 2009

Box Score

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - No. 6 Tennessee (24-6, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) battled hard against No. 1 Florida (32-2, 11-0 SEC) on Sunday at the Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., but suffered a 4-1 defeat in the finale of a three-game SEC Eastern Division series.

The Big Orange offense managed four hits against Nelson with junior center fielder Nicole Kajitani leading the way with a 1-for-2, one RBI performance. Senior left fielder Lillian Hammond singled, scored a run and swiped a base in the contest. Junior second baseman Erinn Webb doubled as part of a 1-for-3 effort, and junior catcher Tiffany Huff singled in one of her three at-bats.

Freshman pitcher Cat Hosfield's record dropped to 17-5 on the year after she allowed three earned runs to UF on seven hits over five innings. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native did manage to strikeout seven Gators, however, in the match-up. In relief senior left-handed hurler Danielle Pieroni permitted one unearned tally on two hits during a single frame of work.

"The difference in this series was Florida's Stacey Nelson and Stephanie Brombacher," Lady Vol co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. "The Gator pitching staff is absolutely fantastic. We have some pretty darn good hitters, and those two tied them in knots all weekend. This was a classic example of a senior two-time All-American pitcher going against a lot of freshmen, and the senior clearly won. We showed a lot of fight today, but there are no moral victories in a 4-1 loss. We think Florida is a great team in all aspects."

Tennessee's Hammond wasted no time in facing Nelson for the second time during the weekend as the senior left fielder slapped the first pitch she received back up the middle for a lead-off single in the first. Kajitani dropped a sacrifice bunt, but Nelson charged the ball from the circle, scooped it up, turned and tossed to second just in time to retire a sliding Hammond. Huff battled the UF hurler over 10 pitches before bouncing to third, advancing Kajitani up 60 feet. With two retired in the opening frame, a UT strikeout left the runner stranded in scoring position.

Hosfield got off to a good start in the bottom half of the first by striking out Florida second baseman Aja Paculba looking. Right fielder Kelsey Bruder managed a one-out walk, granting the Gators their initial base runner. The UF occupant never moved from that spot, however, as first baseman Ali Gardiner got caught staring at a third strike and left fielder Francesca Enea popped up to UT freshman shortstop Ashley Andrews.

Third baseman Corrie Brooks opened Florida's half of the second with a sharp single through the left side of the Lady Vol infield. With Hammond playing deep in left with power-hitting shortstop Megan Bush at the plate, the hitter lifted a short fly ball to left. Hammond charged hard and dove in an attempt to make the grab, but the ball tipped just off the edge of her glove as UF posted a pair on the base paths with still none retired. Hosfield managed to "K" catcher Kristina Hilberth and induce a fly ball to right center, that Kajitani raced over from her defensive position in center to grab, for two big outs. Hosfield finished off Florida in the second by striking out designated player Alicia Sisco as UF left a pair on base.

With two down in the third, Tennessee finally got the big hit it had been searching for all weekend. After Hammond walked and swiped second to reach scoring position, Kajitani delivered a clutch RBI single through the right side of the infield, plating the runner for a 1-0 lead. Huff followed with a single between first and second, putting two aboard for Spigner. The Santa Clarita, Calif., native hit the ball sharply on the ground the other way but unfortunately right at Gardiner as the first baseman made an unassisted play to retire the side.

UT's 5-9 right hander continued her control of the dangerous Gator offense through the bottom of the third. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native got Paculba to pop-up to Webb on the outfield grass for the initial retirement. Bruder went down looking, becoming Hosfield's fifth strikeout victim of the match-up. Behind in the count to Gardiner, 3-0, UT's pitcher responded by battling back to a full count before inducing a harmless ground out to second as Webb made the play for the final out of the inning.

With Tennessee still leading by a run venturing to the bottom of the fourth, Hosfield walked Enea to lead-off the frame. That brought the dangerous Brooks to the plate, but she was K'ed swinging for the first out. UF shortstop Megan Bush ripped the initial offering she saw from Hosfield into left, advancing pinch runner Brooke Johnson into scoring position. Hilberth stepped into the batter's box and trailed 1-2 in the count before ripping a ground shot just past a diving Webb at second and into right field, loading the bags with still just one down. Center fielder Michelle Moultrie hit a ball off the end of the bat that Hosfield, while falling backwards from her follow through, almost caught but it hit off the end of her glove as Johnson scored to tie the game at 1-1. Pinch hitter Kristine Priebe battled to a 3-2 count and fouled off an offering before popping up in foul ground outside of third as Andrews raced over from short to make a running catch. Hosfield fell behind Paculba 2-0, before rallying to 2-2 in the count. The UF second baseman eventually popped up harmlessly to her counterpart Webb as Florida left the bags packed.

UF's Nelson settled down after a tough third frame to retire six of the next seven Lady Vol batters she faced over the fourth and fifth innings. The only UT batter to reach during that time was freshman designated player Shelby Burchell, who managed a two-out walk in the fourth.

Bruder got things started for Florida in the bottom of the fifth by leading off the inning with a double to left center. Kajitani raced over from center attempting to make the grab, but the ball continued tailing away from her as her dive came up just short of a potential catch. Gardiner followed with a two-bagger of her own into left center as Bruder scored to grant the Gators their initial lead of the day, 2-1. Pieroni was summoned into the contest in relief of Hosfield and immediately gave up a RBI single to Enea as the advantage grew to 3-1. An error allowed Enea to reach third on her base knock, eventually allowing her to cross the dish with UF's fourth tally via a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of Brooks.

After Tennessee went down one-two-three in the top of the sixth, Florida's Sisco opened the bottom half with a walk against Pieroni. Hosfield was brought back into the contest and immediately struck out Paculba looking. Bruder bounced a ball back to the circle that Hosfield corralled on the bounce. She turned and tossed to Andrews at second and the Tumwater, Wash., native threw on to sophomore Jen Lapicki at first, completing an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play.

That brought up the Lady Vols facing their last opportunity against Nelson in the top of the seventh. Webb battled out of a 0-2 hole to 3-2 before ripping a lead-off double over Enea's head in left to get a scoring threat started. Burchell also worked to a full count versus Nelson before drawing a walk, placing two aboard with still none retired. Pieroni bounced into a fielder's choice to short as Bush cut down the lead runner at third for out number one. Sophomore pitcher Ashton Ward was summoned in to pinch hit and flied out to mid-range left. With Hammond at the plate, Hilberth was charged with a passed ball and the duo on the base paths advanced to second and third. Unfortunately, Hammond's slow roller to second was handled easily as Florida secured the win.

No. 6 Tennessee returns home to Knoxville to host a Wed., March 25th, doubleheader against league foe Arkansas at the Lee Softball Stadium. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m. ET. The Sports Animal (AM 990, 99.1 & 99.3 FM) is currently slated to radio broadcast the second game of the doubleheader. Live stats will be available through utladyvols.com via Gametracker.