March 26, 2009

Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - An outstanding junior campaign continues to reap benefits for catcher/first baseman Tiffany Huff as the Saugus, Calif., native has been selected as one of Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" in its upcoming March 30th edition.

Each week the national publication honors six athletes, spanning from youth to collegiate level athletics from across the United States, in order to highlight their outstanding athletic accomplishments. Former Lady Vol pitcher and recent Team USA Olympic silver medalist Monica Abbott was included in the long-running feature back during 2005, while current Tennessee freshmen Cat Hosfield (Sept. 8) and Jessica Spigner (Aug. 25) were included in 2008 based on their high school exploits.

After opening the season in a major way by hitting .647 (11-of-17) with 15 RBIs over five games at the BYU Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah, and receiving USA Softball Co-National Collegiate Player of the Week honors, Huff has shown few signs of slowing down with her offensive production. Through 31 contests in 2009, she guides the team and rates third in the Southeastern Conference in batting average at .476 (40-of-84) to go along with 10 doubles, a triple, six home runs and a league-leading 49 RBIs. Huff has almost equaled the RBI production from her entire SEC All-Freshman (58 RBIs in 2007) and NFCA All-South Region (50 RBIs in 2008) campaigns. She also currently rates in the SEC's top three counting all contests in slugging percentage (.833), on-base percentage (.562) and hits (40). Huff has recorded 10 multi-hit and 11 multi-RBI games in 2009 and posted a career-long 17-game hitting streak from Feb. 20-March 21, falling just three games short of tying the school record.

No. 9 Tennessee (25-6, 3-3 SEC) will return to action on Sat., March 28th, at 1 p.m. ET by hosting Mississippi State for a doubleheader. Sunday's finale will be broadcast live at 1 p.m. ET on SportSouth with Bob Kesling and former Lady Vol All-American Sarah Fekete on the call. The Sports Animal (AM 990, 99.1 & 99.3 FM) is also slated to radio broadcast all three games of the series with Chip Kain and Mickey Dearstone both spending time behind the microphone. Live stats will be available through utladyvols.com via Gametracker.

All fans who bring two non-perishable food items to Lee Softball Stadium to benefit Second Harvest on both Saturday and Sunday during the Mississippi State series will receive a free ticket for admission. All kids 12 and under are also eligible to receive a voucher for a free hot dog and drink at all Sunday games throughout the remainder of the season.