Huskers Fall 5-2 at Tennessee

Knoxville, Tenn. - Ashton Ward's pinch-hit, three-run double broke a 1-1 tie and lifted 13th-seeded Tennessee to a 5-2 victory over the Nebraska softball team on Saturday at the NCAA Knoxville Regional at Lee Stadium.

With the win, the Lady Vols advanced to Sunday's championship game. The Huskers will try and earn the other spot in the championship game at approximately 6 p.m. (Central) tonight, weather permitting. Nebraska will face the winner of the Jacksonville State vs. James Madison game in tonight's elimination game, although forecasts call for heavy rains throughout the evening in the Knoxville area.

Nebraska and Tennessee each had five hits, but three of the Lady Vols' hits came with runners on base.

Things started well for the Huskers, as Nebraska led 1-0 after one inning of play. Senior Meghan Mullin led off the bottom of the first with a single and moved up to second base on a sacrifice bunt from fellow senior Darcy Rutherford. After Mullin advanced to third on a wild pitch, senior Amanda Duran brought Mullin home when she grounded a 2-0 pitch up the middle for an RBI single.

Tennessee answered right back in the top of the second to with four runs. The Lady Vols loaded the bases with no outs on a leadoff double, a walk and an infield single. Hill then walked Ashley Andrews to force in the tying run. After Hill snagged a liner back to the circle for the first out, pinch-hitter Ashton Ward cleared the bases with a three-run double to left center.

Nebraska got a one-out double from senior Haley Long in the bottom of the second before Danielle Pieroni came on in relief of starter Cat Hosfield for Tennessee. Pieroni got out of the jam by retiring the next two batters on a strikeout and a pop out.

While Pieroni was shutting down the Husker lineup - she retired the first 14 batters she faced - Tennessee added a two-out run in the top of the fifth. Freshman right-hander Ashley Hagemann relieved senior starter Molly Hill prior the inning, and Hagemann promptly walked the first batter she faced. Hagemann then retired the next two hitters before Erinn Webb doubled off the top of the wall in left to score Tiffany Huff and extend the Lady Vols' lead to 5-1.

Nebraska finally got to Pieroni in the seventh inning while bringing the tying run to the plate. Sophomore Julie Brechtel snapped Pieroni's streak of 14 straight batters retired with a leadoff single. Following two quick outs, freshman Jamie Gay came up with a pinch-hit RBI single to cut the lead to 5-2. Freshman Kirby Wright then drew a walk to put runners at first and second before Mullin grounded out to end the comeback bid.

Pieroni (8-2) earned the win with a terrific relief performance. Pieroni was outstanding in her 5.2 innings, allowing only one run on just two hits and behind her effort, Tennessee won its 40th game of the season to improve to 40-16-1.

Hagemann pitched well in relief in her NCAA Tournament debut. Hagemann allowed only one run and one hit over 3.0 innings and retired the final seven batters she faced. Hill (25-14) took the loss for Nebraska, as she gave up four runs on four hits.

With the loss, Nebraska fell to 35-18 on the season. Offensively, Duran and Gay each finished with one RBI, while five Huskers had a hit.

Box Score 2009 Nebraska Softball #18 Tennessee at Nebraska May 16, 2009 at Knoxville, Tenn. (Lee Softball Stadium)

Tennessee 5 (40-16-1)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Kelly Grieve cf.......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 Lillian Hammond lf....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ashton Ward ph/dp....... 3 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 1 Tiffany Huff c........... 2 1 0 0 2 0 5 1 0 Jessica Spigner 3b....... 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 1 Nicole Kajitani 2b....... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 Erinn Webb rf/lf......... 3 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 Jen Lapicki 1b........... 2 1 0 0 1 0 10 0 1 Shelby Burchell dp/rf.... 2 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 Ashley Andrews ss........ 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 Cat Hosfield p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Danielle Pieroni p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 Totals................... 25 5 5 5 4 6 21 8 5

Nebraska 2 (35-18)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Mullin, Meghan cf........ 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 3 Rutherford, Darcy lf..... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Duran, Amanda c.......... 3 0 1 1 0 0 6 1 0 Carwile, Crystal 1b...... 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 Brechtel, Julie 2b....... 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 Linke, Kelli dp.......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Pascale, Brittany ph.... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Foland, Heidi 3b......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 0 Hupp, Alex ph........... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Long, Haley rf........... 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Gay, Jamie ph........... 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Barrett, Whitney ss...... 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 Wright, Kirby ph........ 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Hill, Molly p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Hagemann, Ashley p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 25 2 5 2 2 5 21 5 5

Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Tennessee........... 040 010 0 - 5 5 0 Nebraska............ 100 000 1 - 2 5 0 -----------------------------------------

LOB - Lady Vols 5; Huskers 5. 2B - A. Ward; E. Webb 2; Long(2). HBP - S. Burchell. SH - K. Grieve; Rutherford(9).

Tennessee IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Cat Hosfield........ 1.1 3 1 1 1 0 6 8 41 Danielle Pieroni.... 5.2 2 1 1 1 5 19 20 82

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Hill, Molly......... 4.0 4 4 4 3 2 15 20 72 Hagemann, Ashley.... 3.0 1 1 1 1 4 10 11 47

Win - D. Pieroni (8-2). Loss - Hill (25-14). Save - None. WP - C. Hosfield. HBP - by Hill (S. Burchell). Pitches/strikes: C. Hosfield 41/23; D. Pieroni 82/55; Hill 72/46; Hagemann 47/30. Umpires - HP: Tim Kasate 1B: Art St. Germain 3B: Patti Gunst Start: 1:31 pm Time: 2:32 Attendance: Game: NU53