April 28, 2002

Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Angela Bednark hit her school record ninth home run of the season in the fifth inning of game one and Janet Middleton hit double to break the single-season total base record but those hits would not be enough as Tennessee swept Samford 5-3 and 1-0 in the season finale for both teams.

Samford (20-32) returned to Knoxville for the first time since defeating Tennessee in the championship game of the 2000 Rocky Top Markets Classic. This time the Bulldogs were trying to end a five-game losing streak but had to deal with a 90-minute rain delay before the games could begin.

Tennessee (35-25-1) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in game one. Adrianna Wilson singled and scored on a RBI-double by Hannah Low in the first inning, Nicole Murray and Nicole Schaeffer each scored on a two-RBI double by Amber Rhinehart in the second, and Wilson hit a solo home run to center in the third inning. Schaeffer reached on an error and scored on another RBI-double by Rhinehart in the fourth inning to put the Lady Vols up 5-0.

Bednark's home run got the Bulldogs on the board in the fifth. It was her first home run since tying the record on March 9, against Birmingham-Southern. Michelle Ashley set the old record of eight homers in a season during the 2000 campaign. The Bulldogs pulled closer in the seventh inning; Michelle Wright singled to lead off the inning. One out later, Rebekah Phillips and Erin Landsburg had back-to-back singles that scored Wright. Phillips scored on a RBI-groundout by Mindy Shunnarah to make the final score 5-3.

Landsburg came on to pitch in the fourth inning of game one and remained in the circle for game two. She threw 8.1 innings and gave up just four hits and struck out five but gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth inning of game two and was saddled with the loss. At the plate she was 2-5 with a RBI on the day.

Tennessee scored on an error with runners at first and third and two outs in the sixth inning to plate the game two's only run. It was the ninth time this season the Bulldogs dropped a one-run game, the second time Landsburg has lost a 1-0 game, and the 15th time Samford has been shutout.

Wright and Phillips each had two hits in the nightcap but Samford could not get a base runner past second base off Tennessee's Stephanie Humphrey who was the winning pitcher in both games for the Lady Vols and improved to 24-19 on the season.

Middleton's double gave her 79 total bases for the season which past Wright's 2001 record of 77. Middleton finished the day 1-6 to finish the season with a .349 batting average. That is the third highest-single season average in Samford history. She finished one point behind Pam Abernathy who batted .350 in 1991 and 35 points behind Sunny Russ who hit .384 in 1996.