James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
James Madison University
Tennessee
LADY VOLS DROP DUKES 3-1
2/27/2009 5:00:00 AM | Softball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 27, 2009 ? The ninth-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers took advantage of three James Madison errors and got a complete game from right-hander Cat Hosfield to drop the Dukes 3-1 in the Tennessee Classic on Friday.
The Lady Vols, ranked No. 9 in the USA Today/NFCA poll and No. 8 in the ESPN.com/USA softball poll, improved to 17-1 with the win while JMU fell to 10-5 with the loss.
Tennessee took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, capitalizing on the third JMU error of the game. Shortstop Ashley Andrews started the one-out rally with a single before moving to third on a single and a throwing error. An infield single by left fielder Lillian Hammond loaded the bases in front of a two-run single by catcher Tiffany Huff.
JMU struck first, scoring in the top of the first off Hosfield. Senior designated player Julia Dominguez (Sterling, Va./Park View) started the two-out rally with a walk and moved to third on a double to right field by junior right fielder Courtney Simons (Richmond, Va./Deep Run). After freshman shortstop Ashley Burnham (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, senior second baseman Kaitlyn Wernsing (Clemmons, N.C./West Forsyth) drove in Dominguez with an infield single.
UT capitalized on a JMU error in the bottom half of the inning to tie the score. Hammond reached on a throwing error and moved to second as the ball bounced down foul territory in right field. She moved to third on a stolen base and scored on a suicide squeeze by Huff.
Senior right-hander Meredith Felts (Greenville, N.C./J.H. Rose) pitched well for the Dukes but took a tough-luck loss. She went six innings, allowing nine hits and three runs, two of which were earned, walked none and struck out three.
Her counterpart threw her sixth complete game of the season, giving up three hits and one earned run, walked three and struck out eight.
