Lady Vols glad to 'put a whoppin' on Arkansas

The Tennessee Lady Vols softball team had a message for Arkansas on Wednesday night.

A 9-0 mercy-rule victory after a 4½-hour rain delay at Lee Stadium got their point across effectively.

“We had to show them we’re still Tennessee,’’ UT co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. “This win was critical.’’

The No. 9-ranked Lady Vols (25-6, 3-3 SEC) were chomping at the bit to get back into league action after getting swept by No. 1 Florida by a cumulative 18-1 run total over the weekend.

The Razorbacks (18-11, 7-2) entered the game leading the SEC West, having won their first three SEC series.

Something had to give, and it proved to be Arkansas in five short innings. The game ended too late — after 10 p.m. — for the second game to be started by SEC rule.

“We wanted to come back and put a whoopin’ on somebody,’’ said UT freshman pitching ace Cat Hosfield (18-5), who had her fourth-career shutout, a one-hitter. “I wanted to redeem myself, and I know our team did, too.’’

The Lady Vols didn’t waste any time, opening the scoring with four runs in the first.

Tiffany Huff’s RBI-double pushed the first run across and Jen Lapicki delivered a two-out bases-loaded double to make it 4-0.

“It was big to come out strong in the first inning, especially after that rain delay,’’ said Huff, who is featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd column this week. “Those loses to Florida brought our team closer. We discussed what happened, and we decided we’re a better team than that.’’

UT continued to prove as much with two more runs off Arkansas starter Miranda Dixon (11-3) in the third.

Nicole Kajitani singled with the bases loaded to make it 5-0, and Ashley Andrews followed with a single up the middle that made it 6-0.

Freshman sensation Jessica Spigner put the finishing touches on the Razorbacks in the fourth, blasting her 12th home run, a three-run shot that made it 9-0.

Spigner is one home run shy of the UT freshman record set by Carrie Swinford in 1996.

Huff, too, is on her way into the record books with 49 RBIs with 23 regular season games and the postseason remaining. The Lady Vols’ single season mark for RBIs is 77, set by Kristi Durant (2005) and Bridget Jackson (77).

Tennessee returns to action at 1 p.m. Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader against visiting Mississippi State. The teams conclude the three-game set at 1 p.m. Sunday in a game that will be televised by SportSouth.