University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
East Carolina
Leslie Poole Two-Hits East Carolina, 7-0, For First Shutout
March 11, 2000 | Softball
Rookie Also Belts First Homer in Snapping Pirates' 13-Game Win Streak
- Box Score
After coming up just short against Kansas earlier in the evening, the Tennessee bats erupted for 15 hits in a 7-0 romp over East Carolina at the Lady Vol Spring Invitational on Friday night. The loss halted the Pirates' winning skein at 13 games and ended pitcher Denise Reagan's stretch of eight decisions in a row. With the victory, UT (10-8) evens its tourney mark at 1-1 and ECU (17-2) dips to 1-1. Kansas (12-11) is the lone unbeaten club in the double round-robin event, while Eastern Kentucky (4-13) dropped both of its contests today.
Freshman Leslie Poole was an integral part of the triumph for the Lady Vols, both in the pitching circle and at the plate. The rookie from Rootstown, Ohio, allowed only a couple of hits to East Carolina in going all the way for her first career shutout. In picking up her fourth win against one setback, the six-foot, four-inch right-hander mashed a three-run blast to left field in the fifth inning for her initial homer of the campaign.
The Orange and White came out quickly in the top of the first, managing three hits off Reagan. After having her nine-game hitting streak snapped versus the Jayhawks, junior Holly Ellison beat out an infield single to begin the game. Junior Maura Mollet then sacrificed Ellison to second before a single up the middle by junior Melissa Radley advanced Ellison over to third. Another hit to center by junior Janette Koshell gave UT the quick 1-0 lead.
Jim Beitia's club would add two more runs in the fourth, first on sophomore Adrianna Wilson's third homer of 2000 and later on an RBI single by Mollet that plated senior Nadia Cameron to make the count 3-0 in favor of the home team.
It would be in the fifth when Tennessee would inflict even more damage on ECU's Reagan. Koshell tagged a single to left and senior Amanda Venable reached on a Pirate error before the hurler retired Wilson on strikes. However, Poole cranked the very first pitch of her at bat into the dark Knoxville night.
Tennessee would later tack on an additional run in the seventh on a two-out single by Cameron which drove in senior pinch runner April Phillips to finalize the margin at 6-0. For the Lady Vols, Cameron (3-for-4), Koshell (3-for-4), Ellison (2-for-4) and Wilson (2-for-4) registered multiple-hit efforts. Tennessee out-hit East Carolina by a 15-2 margin, although the Orange stranded eight runners. The two hits allowed by Poole were the team's lowest surrendered all season in a seven-inning game.
The scores from today's day one activity at the Lady Vol Spring Invitational were as follows:
East Carolina 3 Eastern Kentucky 0Kansas 4 Eastern Kentucky 1Kansas 6 TENNESSEE 5TENNESSEE 7 East Carolina 0
Tomorrow's action is slated to begin at noon, when Kansas will take on Eastern Kentucky. The Lady Vols will face East Carolina at 4 p.m., and then encounter the EKU Colonels at 6 p.m., weather permitting.
