New stadium debuts today

Tennessee's new softball stadium will open its gates for play today with a new-look Lady Vols team taking the field.

UT, ranked No. 5 in the USA Today/NFCA poll, will host Brigham Young at 5 p.m. at $7 million Lee Stadium.

"We've been waiting on this stadium for years,'' said senior Tonya Callahan, UT's lone preseason first team All-SEC selection. "It's going to be exciting; everything in this stadium looks awesome.''

The Lady Vols have looked awesome, too, getting off to a surprising 9-1 start despite the loss of NCAA multi-record holding pitcher Monica Abbott.

"I'm really proud of this team,'' UT co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. "Tonya Callahan has been exceptional, and we've been really pleased with our freshmen, especially Jennifer Lapicki, Ashton Ward and Chandra Mogan.''

Callahan, who has moved from first to third base, is batting .429 with two home runs and 13 RBIs.

Weekly said he was unsure who would get the start against the Cougars (7-3). Ward won national player of the week honors after her first starts for the Lady Vols two weeks ago and is 6-1 with 0.42 ERA. Senior Megan Rhodes is 3-0 with a 1.28 ERA.

It could be a moot point if Tennessee continues to score runs at the torrid pace it has so far this season. The Lady Vols are batting .327 collectively and averaging 5.4 runs per outing. Lapicki is one reason why, having already hit two home runs.

"Lapicki has awesome power,'' Weekly said. "But she's a freshman, and she has to learn to deal with the different pitchers.''

Lapicki, who Weekly has predicted will break the school's all-time home run mark, said she feels like she gets better every day.

"You don't realize how much hard work there is until you get here,'' Lapicki said. "Every day, you learn something new and there's a different goal.

"This is the most exciting thing I've ever been a part of,'' she said. "There were a lot of great players here before us (freshmen) who have built the tradition and now it's our job to carry that tradition on.''

The Tennessee Classic, which also includes Virginia, Wagner and Louisiana-Monroe, runs through Sunday.