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• Hosfield earns national award; Spigner honored in California
• Lady Vols finish No. 14 in fastpitch coaches' poll
• Spigner could be next big thing

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The Tennessee softball team looked good one game, LSU looked good in the other, and Tonya Callahan looked good all day.

UT made the most of its appearance in the Fox Sports Net opener Saturday, with Callahan blasting a pair of three-run homers to power the Lady Vols to an 8-0 victory at Lee Stadium that was stopped after five innings by virtue of the mercy rule.

The TV cameras were gone for the second game, and so too was the appearance that No. 9 Tennessee (42-9, 12-8 SEC) was better than No. 11 LSU (34-13, 12-9). The Tigers scored an 8-2 victory to earn the split.

The teams, separated by one-half game in the standings, will settle the battle for third place in the SEC in today's game at 1 p.m. (TV: Fox Sports Net).

"At this point, each game is important for seeding,'' said Ralph Weekly, who along with his wife, Karen, serves as co-head coach at UT. "Today is a huge game for both teams.''

UT freshman Ashton Ward (22-3) was nearly picture-perfect in the opener, allowing just one hit and two walks in her complete game victory. It was only the second time LSU has been run-ruled this season.

The Tigers got the split in the nightcap by scoring eight runs in the third inning, taking advantage of seven walks in the frame from Megan Rhodes (19-6) and Danielle Pieroni.

"You can't defend walks,'' Ralph Weekly said.

Rhodes walked the first two batters in the third before Shannon Stein hit a line drive off Callahan's glove at third that was scored a hit and loaded the bases. Rachel Mitchell followed by taking a Rhodes' offering out of the park for a grand slam that made it 4-1.

"Before the home run, I was just telling Megan to breathe,'' UT senior catcher Shannon Doepking said. "After that, you knew it couldn't get much worse. The low pitch just wasn't called a strike today.''

Killian Roessner followed the home run with a single, and Pieroni was called on to pitch. Pieroni had as much problem finding the strike zone as Rhodes, walking three consecutive batters before Rhodes re-entered.

Rhodes induced Jessica Mouse to pop-up on a 15-pitch at-bat before yielding two more walks.

Ralph Weekly tried to intervene during the first base on balls Rhodes issued after re-entering, getting into what appeared to be a heated discussion with home plate umpire James Martarona.

"I'm not gonna blame the umpire, but he was calling a tight plate,'' Ralph Weekly said. "I've never seen that many walks in a row in my career.''

Karen Weekly came out of the dugout after the next walk, pointing her finger at Martarona as she walked away with UT down 6-1 and the bases still loaded.

Stein followed with a two-run double off the right-center wall to make it 8-1, but Dee Dee Henderson was thrown out at the plate on the play to end the inning.

LSU's coaching staff came out of the dugout and held an animated argument with Martarona before the game moved on.

The Lady Vols managed only one more run off Tigers' Cody Trahan (12-4) before LSU closed them out, pitching around Callahan each time.

Callahan's line for the day was two at-bats, two home runs, six RBIs, and six walks.

“The (intentional) walks are frustrating,’’ Callahan said. “On a couple, I wondered if I could just step out there and drill one.

“I’m just seeing the ball real well this season.’’

Teams will keep seeing to it that Callahan doesn’t beat them, Ralph Weekly said.

“That’s where our four, five and six hitters have to make them pay for walking Callahan,’’ he said. “Today’s not a day to point any fingers. We just need to bounce back.’’

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.