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TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 4 Tennessee Lady Vols utilized a five-run fourth inning in a 5-1 victory over Florida A&M (2-7) on Monday morning at the USF Best Western Tournament in Tampa, Fla., to rebound from its first loss of the season.

Sophomore center fielder Erinn Webb had the biggest hit of the game with a two-run double in the fourth as part of a 2-for-3, two-RBI effort for the Lady Vols (9-1). Sophomore catcher/first baseman Tiffany Huff had an RBI on a double, while sophomore Allison Fulmer and senior Caitlin Ryan each drew bases-loaded walks.

Junior pitcher Danielle Pieroni worked the first 3.1 innings of the contest, allowing just one hit with two strikeouts. She ceded the circle to freshman Ashton Ward who permitted a single unearned run on two hits with three K’s over the final 3.2 frames to record her sixth win of the campaign.

“Erinn Webb and Tiffany Huff keyed our offense today, and we got great pitching out of Danielle (Pieroni) and Ashton (Ward),” Lady Vols co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. “It’s been a long 10 days on the road, and we are happy to be getting back home. As a team we are better now than we were to start the season, but we still have a long way to go.”

The contest opened as a pitcher’s duel between Tennessee’s Pieroni and Florida A&M’s Tiffany Chan. Outside of an intentional walk granted to senior third baseman Tonya Callahan in the opening frame, the two both raced through the first three innings with no hits allowed.

UT’s offense was the first to get untracked as the Big Orange sent 11 hitters to the plate in the fourth inning while registering five runs on four hits with the benefit of a Rattler error. Freshman second baseman Chandra Mogan led things off with a clean single through the right side of the infield. Callahan walked to place two aboard and the Weeklys’ made the move to summon in speedy pinch runners Nicole Kajitani and Kelsey Stander. The move paid off as the duo swiped second and third to reach scoring position with no one retired. Following a groundout by senior catcher Shannon Doepking, Webb came through with a big double to the right field wall to plate a pair for a 2-0 lead. Huff stepped in next and blasted a two-bagger to left scoring Webb to improve the count to 3-0 in favor of the Lady Vols. Freshman first baseman Jen Lapicki hammered UT’s third consecutive double with a shot into the gap in left center to set the situation at second and third with just one down. Sophomore center fielder Anita Manuma dropped a bouncer to short that was misplayed by Florida A&M’s Joyce Harold for an error, loading the bases. Pinch hitters Fulmer and Ryan got a chance to step in the box and came through with consecutive walks to force in a pair of runs and set the score at 5-0. A fielder’s choice later prevented the Big Orange from adding to its lead as Manuma was thrown out at home on a force play.

Ward entered the contest for Pieroni during the fourth inning and continued her predecessor’s effectiveness into the sixth before the Rattlers finally cracked the scoreboard. With two outs a fielding error in the Tennessee outfield, as two Lady Vols collided while pursuing a fly ball, opened the door for FAMU to get a runner into scoring position at second. First baseman Alacia Strafford followed with a base knock to left field to plate right fielder Rhianna Green and cut the deficit to 5-1.

That was as close as the Rattlers would get as Ward closed out the sixth and pitched an effective seventh inning. The Charlotte, N.C., native completed the contest with a strikeout of pinch hitter Ashley Bell.

Tennessee will officially open the new Sherri Lee Softball Stadium on Thursday at the Tennessee Classic against BYU at 5 p.m.