Tennessee's softball team helped make history Sunday afternoon at Lee Stadium. Unfortunately for the Lady Vols, it was someone else's history.
Sound familiar?
Just a couple of months ago, 12th-seeded Ball State made school history by upsetting the two-time defending national champion Lady Vols in the first round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament. It was Jacksonville State's turn in the Knoxville regional of the NCAA softball tournament this weekend.
A brief introduction: The Jacksonville State Gamecocks are not to be confused with Jacksonville, Fla., or the South Carolina Gamecocks. They call Jacksonville, Ala., home, and the school refers to itself in the media guide as the "friendliest campus in the South," which is not to be confused with Auburn, a.k.a the "friendliest village on the Plains."
The Gamecocks proved more feisty than friendly in the tournament. They had to beat Nebraska on Sunday just to get to the Lady Vols. Once they knocked off the Cornhuskers, they had to beat UT twice.
Judging by their animated celebration after the three-game sweep, they had enough energy left over to win three more. Now, they're off to the NCAA super regional for the first time in school history.
"Living the dream," is how JSU coach Jana McGinnis put it, repeating her team's post-season rallying cry.
Their dream helped continue UT's post-season sports nightmare for 2008-09. The UT men's basketball team lost a last-second game to Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the women got waylaid by Ball State, and the UT women's tennis team was upset by South Carolina on the Lady Vols' home court in the NCAA tournament.
With a few exceptions, the only way UT has been able to avoid post-season anguish this school year is by not getting involved (see football and baseball for details).
The softball team's disappointment was magnified by the odds. It had to win one game Sunday; JSU had to win three.
Once the Gamecocks won the first two, it wasn't hard to see the third one coming.
In their second game and UT's first, the Gamecocks were outhit eight to six, made three errors to UT's one, and walked four batters. But the Lady Vols repeatedly made the least of every opportunity in a 6-1 loss.
"The difference was clutch hitting, very definitely clutch hitting," said UT co-head coach Ralph Weekly. "And they deserve all the credit for that."
Meredith Sellers deserved most of the credit. She had a two-run home run and a two-run double in the first game to support winning pitcher Karla Pittman, who might have reminded Lady Vols fans of those short Ball State guards who bedeviled UT for 40 minutes two months ago.
The 5-foot-2 Pittman grew in stature as the situation demanded. The Lady Vols had runners in scoring position in five of the first six innings and managed nary a run.
When Pittman wasn't deftly walking a tightrope through the UT batting order, she was cheerleading and collecting her teammates' bats. You can't blame her for making the most of the experience.
A week ago, after the Gamecocks were upset in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, they assumed their season was over. Pittman made the 12-hour drive home to North Canton, Ohio. She arrived just in time to find out her team had received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
How unexpected was the bid? McGinnis was watching a baseball game on television when she heard the news.
"We thought our season was over," McGinnis said. "We were getting ready to turn in equipment, then we found out the NCAA had given us an at-large bid and put us in the tournament. I know at least three of these girls came up with the philosophy, 'We're living the dream, we're getting ready to play another day of softball.' "
The dream kept getting better Sunday. In the final game, the Gamecocks spotted UT a 1-0 first-inning lead but scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings and got outstanding pitching from Ashley Eliasson in a 2-1 victory.
"I couldn't be more proud of this team," McGinnis said. "They fought hard, they earned every run.
"It's a dream come true."
Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.
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Comments » 46
utmichael20#546617 writes:
Thanks John for throwing this in our face too... (1st)
798orange writes:
Yet another in a long line of ignorant, worthless commentary from the buffoon squad. This one is almost as classless as the remarks you made about Monte Kiffin. You and your buddies ought to crawl back in your cave.
mike_d writes:
Why is it that every time a UT team loses its because they are not good or they choke? Could it be possible that every now and then a UT team gets beat by a better team? Im about to get as scared of some of the people writing this stuff as i am of some of the 15 yr olds that comment about it. (see post #3 for reference)
allvol32 writes:
John Adams you're worse than the oafish gator trolls that live to post negative bs on this site. They're at least championing they're own team by trash talking ours but you're a paid employee of the home town newspaper.
Your consistently negative columns on all things orange illustrate your thinly veiled dislike of Tennessee. Please go back to Birmingham or wherever in Alabama you're from and let the KNS hire someone who actually likes the University of Tennesse.
matrosscbc writes:
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
andy112382#209793 writes:
Posting after 11pm...it's past your bedtime, little gator, time to put on your Teebows and Tebow pajamas.
gmoneyvol writes:
John sure likes to write about UT's failures. I for one am glad to see this academic year come to an end. This is probably the most dismal sports year in UT history. It can only get better from here!
Orangeblood13 writes:
grind that knife John
jerk
donniedem writes:
Your out of line. Disgusting comment and beneath a true vol fan.
teampenny#658108 writes:
All fan bases has a few classless fans. Agree once again Adams wrote a negative article, but in his defense this time how could you write something positive about this softball series. As I have said before we support our programs to well to be having as little success as we are. The Gators toke all sports trophy again. I believe some management changes are needed. Go Vols
CrankE writes:
"Yet another tale of UT misery." Adams is all up in this like Teebows. His motto; If it hurts UT, then it's fit to print.
sevenmaxims#354995 writes:
Adams got this part wrong also;
The city's(Auburn, Alabama's) unofficial nickname is The Loveliest Village On The Plains, taken from a line in the poem The Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith: "Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain . . ."
" Loveliest" , not "Friendliest"
eefor10c writes:
Talk about misery....Anything john adams writes is misery. Just sitting around waiting for a UT team to lose so he can use his bully pulpit to give our great school a hard time. How about the fact that we had a freshman starting pitcher, a lot of talent on the team and that most of it will be back next year. Noooooo! john, look in the mirror and you'll see misery.
DroopyDrawers writes:
John Adams is the biggest donkey in Knoxville. Please leave! No, just leave.
GreerVol22 writes:
Hey Adams, the families of Buck Owens & Roy Clark called, and they have NOT given you permission to change the UT fight song the following
Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me
We figured she was rich, loaded to the hilt
And we figured she had class like the Vanderbilts
'Cause we had heard for years how she was so well reared
How was we to know they meant the way she was built
Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me
ps, you really should try church, it might change your attitude.
HtownVol writes:
Wow, it seems like there are so many articles on this site that just try to make UT look like the worst school in the country. Why do these people work for a Knoxville news site. Or is it really another SEC school that pays their saleries?
Voluvr writes:
et tu John? Whoa is us. btw John how's the newspaper business doing?
RichmondVol42 writes:
Thread over. Well done, sir
Couchdummy writes:
I know that Adams is usually just trying to sell newspapers, but this article is very mean spirited and the title is yet another backhand to the university athletic program. Has that become the KNS mission?
CoverOrange writes:
Isn't the job of a "columnist" to explain why? General Obvious is a reporter getting paid a columnist's wages.
Singaporehillbilly writes:
Time for a change. Since taking over as AD, Mike Hamilton has brought the athletic performances of the major sports to an all time low. He is not a good financial manager and the teams have performed poorly on his watch.
Get rid of Hamilton.
jdcvols#230433 writes:
Worst Football team in 50 years. Baseball team has the worst 2 year record ever. Basketball team underachieves. Worst Lady Vol BB team ever! Lady Vol Softball and both Tennis teams choke at the end.
I guess we are a golf school now!
Come one, why wouldn't any Vol fan be concerned!
rootin4volz writes:
Yet Another Tale of KNS Misery: This John Adams-penned Article.
razin55 writes:
Good article John, nice jab at diamond Vols and last Fulmore team. Had to chuckle. I'm not downing Vols, just lookin' at it like it is. Hope Mike pulls plug on baseball head non-rally soon.
mywaynow writes:
"It's a dream come true." John Adams has departed Knoxville for "friendliest village on the Plains."
brokebackvol writes:
Boy, some of my fellow Volfans are REALLY thin-skinned over Mr. Adam's reporting of the facts. Spend some time OUTSIDE the Valley of the Vols and recognize that sometimes it is okay to point out when our favorite school's teams are not doing well in competition.
And let's face it, not been much fun to be a UT fan of late. I'm as loyal as the next person wearing UT orange clothing, but it's been frustrating to see team after team choke and underachieve. It's bizarre. Even Pat's team choked in the first round, which is a totally new ( and galling)experience for us.
But can you honestly say that ALL Adams writes should be orange-cated dreck, just to keep y'all in the dark about how things really are on campus? I want to know the REAL story, and that means seeing ALL facets, not just the great championships.
mywaynow writes:
If adams would stick to the who, what, when, where, and how and keep his snide little remarks out of the story - no problem - he just has to get in his digs - don't like him and don't plan to start.
Bigger_Al writes:
Adams smiles his Grinch-like smile, and laughs his Burns-like laugh, and lampoons UT once-again.
Who needs salt when you have an a--hoe like Adams?
littleorange writes:
The only misery I detect is JOHN ADAMS.....
kazoo writes:
It's impossible to be a sports columnist in a college town because the local homers all expect the columnist to blow kisses to the university sports programs every other day. Get real: That's not his job. What is Adams supposed to do--wax poetic about all the sweet girls on the softball team? Fact is, the softball program has slipped. They choked away a national title two years ago (sad but true) and couldn't beat a cupcake program once over two games this year--and meanwhile bama and florida are on the rise.
Fact is, UT's sports programs have been decidedly weak in recent years. The football team has been borderline horrible; the men's baseball team has been bad; the men's basketball team has been the highlight--fairly good in a bad conference, but still struggles to win NCAA tourney games; the women's basketball program was bailed out of a 10-year-old spiral into mediocrity by one player (without a superstar PS's teams always labor more than they should...and so it goes. The men's tennis teams has been doing fairly well, however! Adams' job is to tell it like it is--and what UT sports is nowadays is mediocre, in just about everything.
bspurlingcac#225603 writes:
Don't forget the swimming teams. Both men's and women's teams are on the up tick as well as the track programs. Many of the Vols sports teams are young and will produce better results in the near future. Go Vols!!!
Joboo642 writes:
I say that we fire all coaches, athletic directors and everyone associated with the Tennessee sports program and hire John Adams to run it. We would win every game in every sport and be national champions of everything. Then he could upset Obama and become the Anti Christ.
orangeoptimist writes:
Would it have been too hard to do a feel good story on David Holmes' and the team's 2nd place finishes in the Regional golf tournament?
back2backchamps writes:
At least Adams didn't mention that the Gators clinched the SEC ALL-SPORTS TITLE for the 19TH TIME IN THE LAST 22 YEARS this past weekend!!!
GreerVol22 writes:
Naaaaa, you know John, he'd rather beat up the women.
Vol_In_Ohio writes:
The "who, what, when, where, and how" article has 4 comments and this one has 40+. I guess John is doing his job. Pretty hard to draw this much ire over a pair of softball games.
midtnorange writes:
Johnny Adams just speaks the honest truth. Let's man up. It's been an awful year, compounded by getting beat by Jack St. I'm worried about football!
allvol32 writes:
If this were the only negative column written by JA about UT athletics then I'd agree with you. However I've read a lot of his columns over the years and there's really no avoiding the fact that his columns at best damn with faint praise and at worst seem to show an out and out dislike of UT athletics.
In contrast Jimmy Hyams is an excellent example of someone who expresses honest unbiased assessments and opinions of UT sports teams without ever going out of the way to cast things in a negative light yet he is in no way a "homer".
I have much more respect for the Hyams of the world than the Adams.
queens2183#661836 writes:
TN had a rough year in sports but if you put it all in perspective, you'd see that this is more atypical than usual. TN had 3 teams that were young in both bball squads and softball (Lady Vols bball and softball completely freshman and sophomore laden) but you expect them to go out and be world beaters and ready to compete right away at this level when it doesn't work that way. The football team underachieved and the baseball team did also but that's not to say that this will be a continuing trend in TN athletics. Track and field won an indoor NC for the Lady Vols and is doing well and the golf team has done well.
If anything the struggles of TN this year shows just how good they have been recently in sports, men and women. Look at it: the softball team has been a mainstay in the World Series lately, the Lady Vols bball team just came off of back-back championships, the Vols bball squad has gone from the grave to winning the SEC East and making sweet 16s on a yearly basis, and even the football team did win the SEC East in '07. It hasn't always been bad and really wasn't bad until this year. Like the elite sometimes do, TN sports had a down year while majority of their teams were young and inexperienced. TN should be fine and TN fans should get a grip and look forward to next year.
P.S. kazoo, you said the LV bball squad was going toward mediocrity until Candace came here. If mediocrity is the Final 4 5-6 times and the championship game 4 times between 6 and 7, I'm sure everyone would want to be mediocre.
rockytopron writes:
I'm beginning to wonder if the Weekly's can coach at this level. It's easy to look good when you have the world's best pitcher in Monica Abbott, but since she graduated this program just isn't winning with the talent they have. They recruit well, but I'm starting to doubt there collective coaching ability.
Monica should have had 3 national titles, but our potent offensive seems to shut down when it counts and that is coaching. Their inability to make adjustments with their players is staggering. Sure we beat up on lesser opponents, but look at our record against top 10 teams since Monica is no longer there and before her time. I bet you will see what I see.
She should also have Olympic Gold had that idiot in Arizona chose to pitch her instead of that big game choker he chose to start the Gold medal game. She had dominated everyone she faced during the Olympics...but that is another story.
gvegasvol writes:
Now that's funny...I don't care who you are.
wagee12 writes:
Sorry you can't handle the truth and that is all that John has published in this piece. Who's crying now. Oh, by the way, there is a UT team that can handle Jacksonville State, the University of Tennessee at Martin beat them in the conference tournament!!!!!
Ralph Weekly had his once in a lifetime pitcher, the jury is definitely still out on whether or not he is a good coach without said pitcher.
utkalumn writes:
HA!
MadMax writes:
The problem with John's article is, odds are he has never even attended a UT womens softball game. It is just an effort to take a cheap shot at the the UT program overall.
DannyVol writes:
Adams is a talentless hack who, for whatever reason, hates the Tennessee sports program. Pointing out failure is closer to his own perspective, so that's why he specializes in doing so. Why does he hate UT? It's probably because he is constantly called out by his orange-clad readership for his shallow analysis and never-ending factual gaffes. You want to talk about choking? Adams does it every-single-week with each and every miserable, short-sighted or simply obvious article he pounds out. Seriously, it's not just what he says, it's the ridiculously bumbling way he says it that makes it so infuriating. I'd rather be insulted by a genius than an idiot. At least the genius can understand a rebuttal.
iowavol writes:
Brokebackvol, the reality is that he consistantly berates the Vol program to the point it is obvious not to report the whole story but to report in a way that supports his personal negative opinions about the Vols. He has an agenda and it is to berate and belittle the Tennessee Volunteers.
But, Adams is just doing what he can - he's not good enough to do anything else or he would be working in Baton Rouge. Hamilton is the weak link here. He ought to take a lesson from our friends in Florida who are kicking out reporters like Adams. Myer is taking the "either you are with us or you are against us" approach as he claims the negativity hurts recruiting. If that is true, then Adams is more to blame for the lack of talent at Tennessee right now than anybody else. He is a rabble rouser and a very good one at that. Nope, to my knowledge, Hamilton has done nothing to prevent Adams access or his negative diatribes.
I have written uppper management at KNS in regard to POS Adams. Their stance, he get's us talked about. Our only course of action is to ignore this person, quit reading his articles, quit commenting, treat him like belly button lint. All of which is difficult to do in the summer doldrums.
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