|
UT Defeats Alabama, 5-3
Lady Vols Punch Ticket to WCWS
KNOXVILLE,
Tenn. -- Tennessee and Alabama put on a quite a show in a
nationally-televised matchup on Saturday as the Lady Vols rallied from
a three-run deficit to punch their sixth ticket the Women's College
World Series with a 5-3 triumph over the Crimson Tide in front of a
sold-out crowd.
"First of all, I'm extremely happy
and extremely proud to coach the Tennessee Lady Vols," Tennessee
co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. "For the seniors, to go to the World
Series three out of four years they were here is a fantastic
achievement. I'm just really proud of our kids. It's all about them.
Coaches, they don't play. They don't throw balls. They don't hit balls.
They don't run. They just coach. These kids did all of it and all of
the credit goes to them.
Tickets for the 2013
Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City are available through
NCAA.com/WCWS and or by phone at 1-866-208-0048.
The
Lady Vols (49-10) combined for three sacrifice flies in a gritty game
where five different players stepped up with key RBI knocks. Melissa
Brown went 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Tory Lewis went
2-for-2 with one walk and one run.
Ivy Renfroe
(21-4) earned the win after striking out four over four frames and
allowed three runs. Cheyanne Tarango, pitching in a game for the first
time since April 20 at Ole Miss, tossed a scoreless fifth in relief.
Ellen Renfroe rang up three strikeouts over two scoreless relief frames
to earn the save.
Jackie Traina (19-8) tossed 5.1
innings with four runs allowed and one strikeout. Leslie Jury threw 1.2
relief frames with one earned run allowed.
The
game didn't start out very cleanly as both teams combined for four
errors. Alabama, which was the designated home team, jumped ahead, 2-0,
in the bottom of the first. Kayla Braud had a leadoff single down the
left field line and advanced to second on a throwing error from left
field and then to third on a wild pitch in the next at-bat. Haylie
McCleney reached on an infield single and stole second base, giving the
Crimson Tide two runners in scoring position with no outs. Two batters
later, Molly Fichtner knocked a two-run single and advanced on the
throw to give Alabama the lead.
In the bottom of
the second, Alabama struck again. With the bases loaded and one out,
McCleney reached on a fielder's choice as Tory Lewis lost and dropped a
fly ball in the sun, but got the force out at second base. Danae Hays
scored on the play and Alabama's lead grew to 3-0.
Tennessee,
which had left one runner one base in the first and one on base in the
second, came to life in the top of the third. Lewis knocked a leadoff
single down the left field line and Raven Chavanne reached on an sac
bunt and fielding error at third. Lauren Gibson followed with a single
to center to load the bases. Madison Shipman came up big with a
sacrifice fly to center field that plated Lewis.
In
the top of the fourth, Tennessee knotted the game at 3-3. Kat Dotson
hit a leadoff single up the middle and Brown followed with a single to
left. Rainey Gaffin stepped up with a sac fly to center field to bring
UT to within 3-2. Hannah Akamine drew a walk on a full count and
Jennifer Burroughs pinch ran. A passed ball put two Lady Vols in
scoring position. Lewis drew a walk on a 3-1 pitch to load the bases.
Chavanne followed with an RBI single to center field to even the game.
In
the top of the fifth, the Lady Vols pulled ahead. Shipman hit a leadoff
double to left field. Two batters later, Kat Dotson scored Shipman from
third base with a sac fly to center field.
Tarango
replaced Ivy Renfroe in the bottom of the fifth after Braud drew a
leadoff walk. Tarango issued a five-pitch walk to McCleney, but with
two runners on, the sophomore hurler was fantastic. Using a variety of
pitches, Tarango induced a flyout to center, an infield fly to first
and a lineup to short to escape unscathed.
Jury
replaced Traina in the top of the sixth with one on and one out. Lewis
used her speed to leg out a single back to the pitcher. Jury left two
UT runners stranded with a strikeout and a lineout to short to end the
inning.
Ellen Renfroe relieved Tarango to start
the bottom of the sixth. Danielle Richard was hit by a pitched and
advanced to second on a sac bunt, but Ellen Renfroe prevented the tying
run from getting any closer with a strikeout and a flyout to center.
UT
added one more run to give it a two-run advantage in the top of the
seventh. With one out, Tarango drew a walk on eight pitches. Whitney
Hammond pinch ran for Tarango and stole second base in her final game
in Lee Stadium. Fellow senior Brown followed with an RBI double up the
middle to plate Hammond and push Tennessee's lead to 5-3.
|
