COLUMBUS, Ga. Fourth-ranked Tennessee scored all nine of its runs with two outs, including eight in the final two innings to finish as the tournament runner-up with a 9-0 six-inning victory over the Nebraska softball team on Sunday in the final game of the NFCA Leadoff Classic.
Nebraska (4-8) ended the Leadoff Classic with a 3-2 record while playing three top-25 teams. Fourth-ranked Tennessee improved to 19-1 with the victory, going 5-0 in the tournament.
Junior right-hander Molly Hill, making her third start in three days just four weeks removed from knee surgery, suffered her second straight loss to a ranked team, falling to 1-2 overall on the season. In five innings of work, Hill surrendered a career-high five earned runs. She came tantalizing close to a much better line, as four of the nine hits she allowed and all five of the RBIs came with two outs.
While Tenneessee used clutch hitting to capitalize on its opportunities, it was a frustrating game for the Nebraska offense. NU was shut out for only the third time this season, but the Huskers had their chances, as NU finished with six hits and had a baserunner in every inning except one.
The Lady Vols' Ashton Ward and Megan Rhodes combined on the shutout victory, with each pitcher allowing three hits in three innings of work. Rhodes was credited with the victory and improved to a perfect 8-0 this season.
Despite the nine-run margin, it was Nebraska who had the first chance to score. After back-to-back singles put runners on first and second in the bottom of the second, Grand Island freshman Heidi Foland hit a grounder up the middle that appeared headed to center field, but Tennessee's quick shortstop Kenora Posey showed great range to slide and get to the ball and record the final out of the inning.
Tennessee then scored its first run in the top of the fourth when Jennifer Lapicki ripped a two-out, RBI single to score Erinn Webb from second.
The Vols went on top 3-0 on Tonya Callahan's two-run homer one inning later. UT continued to score in the top of the fifth, using a walk and consecutive doubles to extend the lead to 5-0.
Freshman right-hander Tori Tyson relieved Hill for the top of the sixth and retired two of the first four hitters, before another Tennessee two-out rally led to four runs. In her inning of work, Tyson allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits.
Offensively for Nebraska, freshman Julie Brechtel recorded her second multi-hit game of her career, finishing 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and a walk. Juniors Darcy Rutherford, Meghan Mullin and Haley Long, along with Foland, accounted for Nebraska's other hits.
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