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May 13, 2006

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ATHENS, Ga. -­ Add another league title to the Lady Vol trophy case as the No. 5 Tennessee softball team (53-9) downed No. 11 LSU (51-12), 3-0, at the UGA Softball Stadium in Athens, Ga., to pick up the program's first SEC Tournament Championship. The victory made UT a staggering 22-0 in neutral site contests in 2006.

Junior Monica Abbott (37-7) hurled a five-hit shutout with six strikeouts to control a dangerous Tiger line-up from the circle, while senior right fielder Katherine Card delivered a clutch two-RBI single in the sixth to grant the Lady Vols all the runs they would need for their first SEC title. Sophomore pinch hitter Natalie Brock drove in a key sixth-inning RBI with a base knock up the middle to plate the contest's final run. Freshman second baseman Liane Horiuchi had a solid day at the plate by going 2-of-2 with a run scored and was also struck by a pitch.

"It was a great championship game," said Lady Vol co-head coach Ralph Weekly. "LSU played us extremely tough today and was very competitive. We met with our team last night and made some offensive adjustments that paid off really well today. It was only fitting that Katherine Card, who had big hits at Stanford and against Arizona in the Women's College World Series last year, got the game-winning RBI. We were very proud of Natalie Brock who came off the bench with a key hit and RBI. Monica Abbott was superb the entire tournament. Her ball was breaking and her change-up was working well. When she throws like she threw today, she will be tough against anyone.

To open the SEC Championship game, Tennessee packed an incredible amount of aggressive action into the contest's first three pitches. Senior center fielder Sarah Fekete slapped the initial offering she viewed from LSU hurler Emily Turner into short left center field forcing Camille Harris to make a superb diving catch to keep the nation's leading hitter off the basepaths for the first time in her last seven at-bats at the SEC Tournament. Junior designated player India Chiles bounced the first pitch she saw over the head of third baseman Lauren Delahoussaye and into left for a single with one down. With Schutzler at the dish, Chiles swiped second base on the third pitch of the contest. The runner was left stranded, however, as junior shortstop Lindsay Schutzler went down swinging on strikes, and sophomore first baseman Tonya Callahan flied out to center to conclude the top of the first.

After inducing a groundout to third by lead-off hitter Lauren Castle, Abbott struck out Harris swinging, but also uncorked a wild pitch that rolled to the backstop to allow the hitter to reach first safely for LSU's initial base runner. Center fielder Leslie Klein worked the count to 3-2 against UT's All-American hurler before finding a pitch she liked and fighting it off into the opposite field in left for a base knock. With runners standing at first and second with one out, second baseman Vanessa Soto drove an Abbott offering into center, but Fekete easily tracked it down for the second retirement of the inning. UT escaped the early jam as LSU first baseman Stephanie Hill flied out to center to close out the scoring threat with no damage done on the scoreboard.

Tennessee posted a one-out base runner in the top of the second as freshman second baseman Liane Horiuchi blooped a single just over shortstop Andrea Smith and into center. Senior right fielder Katherine Card drove a ball down the left field line that drifted foul but stayed in play enough to allow Harris to track it down for the inning's second out. Sophomore catcher Shannon Doepking fought Turner to coerce a walk to make it runners at first and second for power-hitting freshman third baseman Jennifer Griffin. Unfortunately for the Lady Vol offense, the Whittier, Calif., native popped up just outside of first in foul ground to end the rally attempt. Through the first two innings, UT had left three runners stranded, two in scoring position.

A spotty rain shower that suddenly erupted over the UGA Softball Stadium during the bottom of the second inning seemed to have little effect on the Lady Vols in the field. Despite allowing a two-out single to Delahoussaye, Abbott struck out one and relied on her solid defense behind her to retire LSU hitters by fly ball and groundout to bring up the Big Orange bidding for that elusive and important first run on the scoreboard.

As usual Fekete ripped a lead-off single up the middle in the top of the third to make it eight hits in 10 at-bats at the SEC Tournament for the Maryville, Tenn., product. She took off for second on a steal attempt during Chiles' final swinging strike but was gunned down on a 2-6 caught stealing to wipe the bases clean for a pair of quick UT outs. The inning ended on a strikeout as Turner caught the outside corner for a looking strike three against Schutzler.

LSU left another runner stranded in the bottom of the third after a two-out base hit to left by Klein to make it four total in the contest as Abbott and Turner were now officially involved in a pitcher's duel.

Callahan drew a walk off Turner to open the top of the fourth frame and was immediately replaced on the basepaths by freshman speedster Lillian Hammond. Following a strikeout by Pieroni, Horiuchi laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt up the first base line to advance Hammond up 60 feet into scoring position for Card. The Soddy Daisy, Tenn., native grounded out to second to leave UT's fourth base runner stranded.

After another one-two-three inning from Abbott, Griffin ripped a ball with one out in the top of the fifth that Smith got a glove on at short but booted for an error to allow her to reach safely. The usually reliable Fekete popped up a potential sacrifice bunt for out number two, and Chiles flied out down the left field line to retire the Tennessee side.

Delahoussaye granted LSU its first hit since the third inning by lacing a hard base knock into right field to lead-off the bottom half of the fifth. Castle was jammed and popped a ball up outside of first in foul territory that Callahan handled herself for an important first out. That's when the Tigers got caught in a heads-up, yet bizarre Lady Vol double play. Harris bounced a high chopper to short that had the look of a ball that would allow both runners to be safe. Pinch runner Dee Dee Henderson had to believe the shot was a liner to Schutzler and stopped running between first and second. Schutzler threw to first to force Harris, and then Horiuchi caught Henderson in a run down for a non-traditional double play.

After playing a role in a solid defensive play in the field, Schutzler got an attack started with her bat in the top of the sixth as the Monterey, Calif., native ripped a hard shot to deep short for a lead-off hit. Callahan sacrificed the runner into scoring position and then sophomore left fielder Kenora Posey blooped a base knock over a drawn-in infield into short left center to join Schutzler on the basepaths with runners at first and second. Horiuchi loaded the bags with one out after being struck by her team-best 17th pitch of the campaign. That brought up the senior Card to face Turner after going 0-for-2 in her first two at-bats of the day. Her reputation has long been as a tremendous clutch hitter in the postseason, and she came through once again with a crucial two-RBI single into left field to grant the Lady Vols a 2-0 advantage. To that point this season, Tennessee was 45-2 when plating the game's initial tally. That hit by Card set the tone as pinch hitter Natalie Brock drove a Turner offering up the middle for an RBI to make it 3-0 Tennessee. Following a foul out by pinch hitter Sarah Vaughn, Fekete reached on an error by the shortstop to re-load the bases for Chiles. She grounded out to short, but the damage has already been done as UT tallied three runs on four singles and a hit batter.

Two quick outs by LSU made it look as if Abbott would roll through the bottom of the sixth unscathed. LSU's Soto had other ideas as she drove a line drive over Fekete's head in center and off the wall for one of the longest singles you'll ever see. Hill blooped a ball to center that had base hit written all over it, but Fekete raced in and made a beautiful sliding basket catch to retire the side and send the contest to the final frame with UT holding a three-run advantage.

Up 3-0 and in the business of looking for insurance runs, Callahan took a Turner offering into the left center field gap with one out and slid into second with a one-out double. Posey lined to short as Smith made a diving grab on her stomach for the inning's second retirement. Horiuchi guided a sharp liner into center field for a single, but Callahan was forced to stay at third due to the speed of the hit into the outfield. With runners at the corners and the heroine Card at the plate, she gave a ball a ride to left but Harris tracked it down for the final out to bring up the Bayou Bengals for their last chance in regulation.

Abbott showed LSU that the title was going to belong to Tennessee as she retired Killian Roessner, Smith and Delahoussaye in order to wrap up Lady Vol softball's first conference crown in softball.

With a guaranteed tournament berth already in their back pocket due to the SEC Tournament title, the No. 5 Lady Vols will find out their tournament draw as the 64-team NCAA regional field and the 16 regional sites will be announced on ESPNEWS on Sunday, May 14, at 3:30 p.m. EDT. The 16 regional winners from May 19-21 will advance to Super Regionals (May 26-27), with the eight super regional winners advancing to the annual Women's College World Series (June 1-7) held in Oklahoma City, Okla.