March 1, 2008
Final Stats
COLUMBUS, Ga. -
A home run by junior left fielder Jessie Buker in the top of the first inning gave the Redbirds an early lead over No. 4/6 Tennessee, but the two-run shot was not enough, as the Illinois State softball team (8-10) lost to the Lady Vols (18-1), 5-2, Saturday afternoon at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. The win snapped ISU's season-long four-game winning streak and marked the fourth loss of the season for the Redbirds against a nationally-ranked opponent.
Buker's home run was one of only two Redbird hits in the game, as freshman designated player Abby Olson recorded ISU's only other hit in the game with a single. Illinois State's two hits in the game marked the seventh time this season that the Redbirds have recorded three-or-fewer hits in a game.
Junior transfer Rachel Smith started the game in the circle for Illinois State and allowed two runs, both earned, over three full innings. After Smith gave up two-straight doubles and a run scored to start the bottom of the fourth inning, freshman Chrissy Burton (2-3) came in to pitch in relief. Burton suffered her third loss of the season after she allowed three runs, all earned, on six hits.
The Redbirds struck first in the game, as Buker hit her first home run of the season, a two-run shot off Ashton Ward that cleared the left-center field fence and scored senior second baseman Tiffany Prager. Buker's home run was ISU's seventh of the season and marked the fifth-straight game that the Redbirds have hit at least one home run in a game.
Tennessee attempted to answer back in the bottom of the first, as the Lady Vols placed runners on first and second via two-straight singles. Facing a two-runners-on, two-out pitching situation, Smith settled down and induced a strikeout by Tiffany Huff to end the threat.
Much of ISU's early success in the game was due to Rachel Smith's ability to strand Lady Vol batters on base. Through the first three innings, Tennessee left five runners on base, compared to just one Redbird runner left on base.
With Tennessee owning one of the nation's best lineups entering the game, it didn't take long for the Lady Vol offense to come back into the game, as an RBI double by Jennifer Lapicki in the bottom of the fourth inning bounced off the left-center field wall and drove in Erinn Webb, who led off the inning with a double of her own into left field. Four batters later, a single by Chandra Mogan with runners on second and third and two out drove in two more UT runs, as the Lady Vols went up, 3-2.
Neither Smith nor Ward made it past the fourth inning in the circle, as Smith was pulled from the game after giving up a run in the bottom of the fourth inning, while Ward was pulled with Redbird leadoff batter Katie Mathis at the plate in the top of the fifth inning.
The Lady Vols continued to pour on the offense in the bottom of the fifth inning, as they went up by two runs (4-2) off a double into right field by Webb that scored Shannon Doepking from second base. Tennessee added an additional run in the bottom of the sixth inning after a double by Tonya Callahan - the Lady Vols' fourth of the game - scored pinch hitter Nicole Kajitani for UT's final run of the game.
The Illinois State softball team will immediately return to action at the prestigious NFCA Leadoff Classic, as it takes on Hofstra at approximately 5:30 p.m. CST from South Commons Stadium and Complex in Columbus, Ga.
