April 22, 2007
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Anna Thompson held No. 1 Tennessee scoreless for four innings, but could not contain the Lady Vol offense over the final two innings as the Auburn softball team dropped the series finale, 5-1, Sunday at Tyson Park.
Thompson struck out four and walked one over five innings, but allowed five runs and eight hits to drop to 11-15 this season.
Thompson allowed a run scoring single to Tiffany Huff in the fifth that tied the score, 1-1. In the sixth, the Lady Vols loaded the bases on an intentional walk to Tonya Callahan, then took the lead when Shannon Doepking connected with a Thompson pitch for a grand slam over the left field fence.
"Anna held them for awhile, but made a mistake in the sixth and that proved to be enough," Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. "They're the top-ranked team in the country and we hung with them early on. We'll take that as a positive entering the series with South Carolina next weekend."
For the second straight day, the Tigers (22-30 overall, 7-18 Southeastern Conference) started the game's scoring. On Saturday, it was Holly Currie's fourth-inning solo home run. On Sunday, the Tigers had to manufacture their first run. Nicole Russo walked on a 3-2 pitch from Monica Abbott to start the third inning. Lindsey Harrelson moved Russo to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt.
Ashley Arcuri, who finished Saturday's doubleheader 5 for 6, aided the Tigers offensively again. The sophomore grounded out to first, moving Russo to third where she scored from when Lauren Walton blooped a single to left center.
Monica Abbott threw her 30th complete game of the season for Tennessee (50-2, 20-2 SEC) to improve to 38-1 this season.
Auburn takes the week off before returning to Jane B. Moore Field for a three-game series against South Carolina. The teams begin the series with a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. CT before a single game Sunday.
Tiger Notes: The game aired live regionally on Fox Sports Net ... It marked the first regional broadcast of the season for the Tigers, who have appeared on television locally four times this season ... Auburn is 1-4 in televised games this season ... Ashley Arcuri's nine-game hit streak was snapped in the loss ... She was 12 for 29 (.429) with four doubles and seven RBI over that span.