Lady Vols a No. 13 seed, will play James Madison in NCAA regional

By Mike Griffith

Originally published 11:02 p.m., May 10, 2009
Updated 11:02 p.m., May 10, 2009

The Tennessee softball team will host a first-round NCAA Regional for the fifth consecutive year.

Tennessee, the No. 13 overall seed in the 64-team tournament, will open play against Colonial Athletic Association tournament champion James Madison (35-14) on Friday.

Nebraska (34-17) and Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champ Jacksonville State (39-13) will play the other first-round matchup at Lee Stadium.

“I’m proud of our kids for achieving a 13 seed,’’ said UT co-head coach Ralph Weekly, whose team was a 13 seed last year as well. “All three of the teams we’re playing are very good and will present a challenge.’’

The Lady Vols (38-16-1) know all about challenges after playing in the rugged SEC, which received a conference-record nine bids into the NCAA tournament.

SEC regular-season and tournament champ Florida is the NCAA tournament’s No. 1 seed.

UT was run-ruled in two of the past three games it played in Lee Stadium, 12-0 against No. 4 NCAA tournament seed Alabama on May 3, and 11-3 Friday in the SEC tournament against Florida.

But the Lady Vols said they feel they have some momentum coming off a hard-fought 6-5 win over LSU in the SEC tournament, and they gained some confidence in jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the loss to Florida.

“We’re not dead,’’ UT freshman pitching ace Cat Hosfield said after the loss to Florida. “We have to flush that game and focus on the postseason, and the games that will keep us alive.’’

Weekly said he still has confidence in Hosfield because of her toughness, alone.

“Cat is that tough, and just remember, (Florida’s) Stacey Nelson was 14-12 as a freshman and we beat her 10-0 that season,’’ Weekly said. “The game is fastpitch, and every team that’s successful has a great pitcher. We’ll get it fixed.’’

UT freshman hitting sensation Jessica Spigner, who has a Lady Vols freshman-record 14 home runs, said the SEC tournament “showed we can compete and battle.’’

The Lady Vols will need to do just that to advance to the Super Regionals, where they would likely face Alabama.

UT was eliminated in its regional by Virginia Tech last year in failing to reach the Women’s College World Series for the first time in four years.