Tennessee cooled off one of the hottest teams in the NCAA softball tournament field, but not before they were put under fire in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
Freshman Jessica Spigner delivered a one-out bases-loaded double in the bottom of the seventh to lift UT to a 4-3 win over James Madison (35-15) in a first-round game that ended at 12:22 a.m. at Lee Stadium.
The Lady Vols (39-16-1) snapped a Dukes’ win streak that reached nine and dated back to April 22, carrying through the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament.
James Madison, making its first NCAA softball tournament appearance in the program’s eight-year history, scored three in the sixth to take a 3-2 lead.
Julia Dominquez’s two-out, two-run homer off Cat Hosfield tied the game at 2-2, and pinch-hitter Casey Mansfield delivered a go-ahead RBI single off reliever Danielle Pieroni (3-2).
UT’s Erinn Webb responded in the sixth with a game-tying RBI double.
Pieroni shut down James Madison in the seventh, and UT freshman Ashley Andrews sparked the winning rally by leading off the seventh with a slap single. Kelly Grieve reached on an infield single, Tiffany Huff was intentionally walked, and Spigner ended the game against a pulled-in outfield.
UT, the NCAA tournament’s No. 13 seed, plays Nebraska (35-17) at 1:30 today.
The winner advances to the regional title game at 2 p.m. Sunday, while the loser plays an elimination game at 6:30 tonight against the winner of today’s 4 o’clock game between James Madison and Jacksonville State (39-14).
UT scratched and clawed for its runs off Meredith Felts (18-5), the winningest pitcher in school history.
UT took a 1-0 lead in the first when Grieve singled, stole second and stole third, and scored on Huff’s squeeze bunt.
The Lady Vols made it 2-0 in the second after Nicole Kajitani reached base on a walk and scored on a Pieroni groundout.
Hosfield allowed six hits while fanning eight, but could not escape the sixth.
James Madison saw Hosfield earlier this season in the Lady Vols’ 3-1 win over the Dukes back on Feb. 26 in Lee Stadium.
© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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