Tennessee Lady Vols Softball waited out a four hour rain delay to defeat the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks 9-0 and snap its three-game losing skid. The Lady Vols (25-6, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) scored four runs in the first inning to take the lead and Cat Hosfield pitched a five-inning, complete-game shutout.

Hosfield had four strikeouts and allowed only three hits in the game for her 18^th win of the season.

"I think Cat can eventually be an All-American pitcher," said co-head coach Ralph Weekly. "She's very tough and a fantastic young athlete. She just needs to learn to stay focused and that comes with being a freshman."

Jen Lapicki hit a bases-clearing double to left-center field to blow the game open in the first. The Lady Vols added two more runs in the third.

"It's good to get back on track," said Weekly. "We had a lot of great hits. We put in a couple of new hitting drills this week and it worked out pretty well tonight."

Jessica Spinger hit her 12^th home run of the season, a three-run shot, in the fourth inning to give the Lady Vols a nine run lead and trigger the mercy-rule.

"I was just looking for something to get a base hit," said Spigner. "I wanted to get the runner in on second and just keep the inning going."

Spigner is one home run shy of tying the single-season record for freshmen and four home runs shy of the single-season record mark set by Tonya Callahan at 16.

"She's the best younger hitter we have had here at Tennessee," said Weekly. "It says a lot with having Callahan and Kristi Durant. She's just a phenomenal hitter. Always a threat."

In the fifth inning, Hosfield got into a jam with runners on second and third and no outs. A wild pitch actually helped out the jam as Lapicki was able to retieve the ball and get it to Hosfield to tag out the runner trying to score from third. Hosfield retired the next two batters to preserve the shutout.

"I need to get better at taking control of the game in the last inning," said Hosfield. "I wasn't worried about the shutout. I was just trying to get an out and it worked out."

The second game of the scheduled doubleheader was cancelled due to an NCAA rule that prohibits games from starting after 10 p.m. local time.

"It was a game we needed," said Weekly. "We felt we could have continued to compete well with Arkansas. We already lost a game with South Carolina and now to Arkansas and they can come back to haunt you."

Tennessee will host Mississippi State this weekend. A doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday starting at 1 p.m. The final game of the weekend series will be Sunday afternoon.