Grand opening: Doepking's homer powers Lady Vols

By Alan Yarbrough
of The Daily Times Staff

KNOXVILLE -- Faced with the same situation, Winthrop coach Mark Cooke was nearly 100 percent sure he'd do the same thing.

Tennessee catcher Shannon Doepking wouldn't mind.

After Cooke decided to intentionally walk Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Tonya Callahan with nobody on, Doepking strolled to the plate in a scoreless sixth inning. On a one-ball, two-strike count, the senior deposited a two-run home run that propelled the Lady Vols to a 3-0 win, concluding the first day of the NCAA Tournament's Knoxville Regional at Lee Softball Stadium on Friday afternoon.

"I would walk Callahan 99 times out of 100 in that situation," Cooke said. "I wasn't expecting Shannon to go deep like that on us."

Ironically, neither was Doepking. When Callahan was replaced on the bases by Kelly Grieve, who subsequently stole second, Doepking just wanted a hit.

"I actually wasn't expecting to get anything up," she said about the up-and-in riseball. "I'd been getting outside pitches all game long, so I was really just looking to make solid contact."

With the win, the No. 13 Lady Vols (49-14) will take on Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament champion Virginia Tech, which defeated Louisville, 1-0, in 10 innings, at noon in the winners' bracket final. The game will be televised on ESPN2, with Big South champion Winthrop (36-19) facing Louisville afterwards at 2:30 p.m.

Without senior pitcher Megan Rhodes, the Lady Vols might have been looking at a different scenario today. When freshman starting pitcher Ashton Ward struggled with location and allowed runners to reach first and third base during the third inning, Rhodes came into the circle.

Despite losing three of her last four decisions, Rhodes (W, 21-9) proceeded to get the next two batters out. From there, she struck out six consecutive Lady Eagles and wiggled out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the sixth. For the game, Rhodes struck out 10 and walked three with no hits.

"It makes us feel better as a staff," UT co-head coach Ralph Weekly said about Rhodes. "It sure makes the team feel better. I told her after the game she exorcised some demons (Friday). (There were) some situations she really came up big in."

Winthrop starting pitcher Cari Wooldridge kept Tennessee's offense at bay in the early going, thanks to some great defense. After allowing a base runner in each of the first three innings, Wooldridge started to crack more in the fourth. But when Callahan nailed a ball off the wall that missed being a homer by about a foot, right fielder Lisa Kingsmore gunned her down at second base. The Lady Vols would then strand two more in the inning.

In the subsequent inning, UT left another runner on after third baseman Pearl Coleshill made a nice diving stop off the bat of Lillian Hammond. The ball, which was destined for left field, instead was thrown across the diamond to first, ending the inning with a runner on third.

"It was a lot of pressure," Wooldridge said about her five-hit, six-walk performance. "I enjoy being under pressure, really. It's one of my favorite things to do, but I am really proud of my defense -- the way they played behind me."

In the sixth inning, though, the Lady Vols figured her out and plated three runs, with the last one coming in on an error following the Doepking homer.

"It was a bad pitch on my part," Wooldridge said. "It was a hung pitch, like coach said."

Virginia Tech 1, Louisville 0

Virginia Tech's Misty Hall blasted her sixth home run of the year in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Lady Hokies a 1-0, walk-off victory against Louisville.

For Virginia Tech (45-15), Angela Tincher, who shut out and no-hit the U.S. National Softball Team earlier this year, picked up the win, giving up one hit and three walks with 19 strikeouts.

Louisville (30-22, No. 5 Big East) was led by pitcher Kristen Wadwell. Despite picking up the loss, she gave up only seven hits, three walks and the lone long ball in a complete-game effort.