Ward, Rhodes remain perfect

Florida Gulf Coast and Hofstra didn't know what they were running into Saturday.

The No. 4-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols' softball team was determined to keep three streaks in tact at the USF Best Western Tournament in Tampa, Fla.

UT defeated Florida Gulf Coast 6-2 and Hofstra 6-1 to claim its 85th and 86th consecutive non-conference, regular-season victories dating back to 2005.

It also kept the Lady Vols (7-0) unbeaten and pitcher Ashton Ward (4-0) perfect in her freshman campaign and Megan Rhodes perfect in her senior season (3-0).

Ward, the National Player of the Week last week, allowed four hits, struck out six and stayed calm under fire in a complete-game effort in the opener.

Ward settled down after giving up a 2-run homer in the first and UT's offense took over from there.

Junior leadoff hitter Lillian Hammond did her job, going 3-for-3 with three runs scored.

Senior third baseman Tonya Callahan stayed hot with her 2-for-4, three-RBI afternoon as the Lady Vols totaled 11 hits.

Callahan's two-RBI single in the second gave UT a 3-2 lead. Sophomore catcher Tiffany Huff came through with a two-run double in the fourth.

UT's final run came on a solo home run to left by sophomore right fielder Erinn Webb in the fifth.

Callahan was 4-for-4 against Hofstra with a two-RBI triple in the second a solo home run in the fourth. Nicole Kajitani added a two-RBI double in the third.

“An outstanding performance by Tonya Callahan today,” Lady Vols co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. “She literally smashed the ball. Overall, we played well today, but we also made a lot of mistakes that need to be corrected before conference time. We are proud of our kids and the way they fought in both games today. Hofstra’s pitcher threw really hard and was a big challenge in game two.”

The Lady Vols play Ole Miss today at 11:30 a.m. and South Florida at 2.