Record crowd watches No. 6 Tennessee clinch series

Lady Vols overwhelm LSU freshman pitcher The nation’s top offensive attack jumped on LSU freshman starter Dani Hofer (15-5) from the first inning and didn’t look back in clinching the final Southeastern Conference regular-season series of the year in front of a record crowd of 1,233 at Tyson Park. No. 6 Tennessee (50-8, 21-8 SEC) downed No. 11 LSU (48-10, 21-8 SEC), 10-1 (5 inn.), and in the process, currently hold down the No. 3 seeding for the upcoming SEC Tournament (May 11-13). Sophomore Megan Rhodes (15-2) followed up her stellar two-hitter against No. 9 Georgia last weekend by allowing just one run on four hits with four K’s in five innings of work. Senior first baseman Katherine Card and sophomore catcher Shannon Doepking each went 2-for-3 with three RBI, while freshman third baseman Jennifer Griffin knocked in a pair. Overall, Tennessee maintained its NCAA Division I-leading .361 average, posted 11 hits in the second contest and outscored the Tigers 14-1 in the doubleheader. “Karen (co-head coach Weekly) and I have a ton of respect for LSU and their program,” said Lady Vol co-head coach Ralph Weekly. “Every time we step on the field against them it’s a tough game. The score didn’t truly reflect the challenge that LSU presented to our ball club today. We’re proud of our kids, and the fight they showed. I told them all before the game that this series was not about Kristi Durant, Tonya Callahan or even Sarah Fekete or Lindsay Schutzler. It’s about Tennessee. Despite allowing a pair of LSU base runners in the top of the first, Rhodes worked her way out of the jam by inducing a foul pop behind the plate by first baseman Stephanie Hill that was easily handled by catcher Shannon Doepking to bring up the Lady Vol offense with their initial offensive chance. The Bayou Bengals finally got on the scoreboard for the first time in the last six match-ups in the series (dating back to March 7, 2004) in the top of the third as catcher Killian Roessner led off the frame with a solo shot to left to cut LSU’s deficit to 5-1. Rhodes didn’t allow the long ball to faze her as she quickly rebounded to strikeout three of the next four batters she faced to make it four K’s through three innings of work. Fekete led off the bottom of the fourth with yet another bunt single to third. She moved up 60 feet to second on a base knock by Schutzler and later scored to make it 6-1 on a shot up the middle by Pieroni. Brock walked to load the bases, once again, to set the stage for Card. Much as she did in the first inning, the Soddy Daisy, Tenn., native came through in the clutch by blooping a single into right to plate Schutzler with UT’s seventh tally. Griffin followed immediately by lacing a double past third and down the left field line to score a pair for a 9-1 advantage. Doepking added an RBI single to push the Big Orange into double-digits with a 10-1 lead through four frames. Suddenly down to its last chance and needing two scores to avoid the run-rule, LSU got a much-needed lead-off single by Delahoussaye. She was erased from the basepaths immediately as Roessner hit a liner to Horiuchi and the Wahiawa, Hawaii, native turned and caught the runner off first for a double play. A base hit by designated player Shannon Stein amounted to little as Rhodes closed out her 15th victory of the season by inducing a fly ball to center by left fielder Camille Harris