It’s only appropriate that Tennessee softball slugger Tonya Callahan hails from the “Show Me State” of Missouri.

The senior All-American has shown Lady Vols coaches and fans over the past four years how the game is supposed to be played.

Callahan is batting .467 with 16 home runs. What the numbers don’t say, her coaches and teammates do.

“Tonya is the most complete player I’ve ever coached,’’ said Karen Weekly, who along with her husband, Ralph, serves as co-head coach for the Lady Vols. “She has never taken a play off in four years; not just games, but practices, too.’’

Callahan certainly can’t afford to take this weekend off. The No. 12 Lady Vols (46-10, 14-9 SEC) play host to No. 2 Florida (56-2, 24-1) at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. this afternoon at Lee Softball Stadium and again at 1 p.m. Sunday for the regular season finale.

Callahan’s abilities are such that few teams pitch to her, choosing instead to intentionally walk her or throw pitches outside the strike zone.

Over the past 16 games and 50 at-bats, Callahan has been walked 26 times, 11 times intentionally.

Callahan has had 24 at-bats in SEC play with runners in scoring position. Fourteen times, she has been walked. The other 10, she has gotten five hits.

The Gators, however, are a very special team with a special pitcher, Ralph Weekly said.

“Florida is strong at every position and has great pitching and clutch hitting,’’ he said. “Their pitcher, Stacey Nelson, is the best in the SEC and hasn’t given up a home run this season.

“I don’t think you’ll see them pitch around Callahan; I think they’ll challenge her.’’

Nelson has a 0.70 earned-run average and has not yielded a home run in the 239 innings she pitched.

Callahan said she hopes not to get intentionally walked by Florida.

“I’m always looking to hit, and I do get a little disappointed when they intentionally walk me,’’ said Callahan, who holds UT’s all-time marks for home runs and RBIs. “But I’ve had to learn over the past four years to be patient.’’

It all started in the back yard in Holden, Mo., for Callahan, when she played outside with her older brother, Shawn, a future baseball standout who played at Oklahoma State and Central Missouri.

“Tonya was one that, anything her brother (Shawn) could do, she would try to do it just as well,’’ said Terry Callahan, Tonya’s mother.

Indeed, Shawn and Tonya Callahan each won the NFL’s national punt, pass and kick competition at Foxboro Stadium one year. Tonya was competing in the girls’ 10-year-old division, Shawn in the boys’ 13-year-old age group.

Karen Weekly remembers the first time she saw Tonya Callahan playing softball in a gold-level softball tournament in Salem, Ore.

“The first time they pitched her inside and she hit it over the left field fence,’’ Karen Weekly said. “The next time they pitched her outside and she hit it over the right-field fence. The last time she came up, with the bases loaded, they walked her.

“A lot of power hitters are dead pull; you don’t find that ability to go to all fields in most power hitters.’’

UT freshman first baseman Jennifer Lapicki said Callahan sets a great example for the Lady Vols.

“Every practice, every day, you see the same intensity and work ethic from Tonya,’’ Lapicki said. “You watch her, and you see a natural. She kills the ball every time. It’s a given she will get the job done.’’

Just as former UT All-American, NCAA strikeout queen and U.S. Olympic team pitcher Monica Abbott found out.

Callahan parked a 250-foot shot over the center-field fence off Abbott when the Lady Vols played the U.S. team in an exhibition last month.

“Tonya is the heart of this team,’’ Ralph Weekly said. “She’s the on-field leader, the off-field leader, and she’s been a perfect student-athlete for four years.’’

Pitching woes: Ralph Weekly said he’s concerned with the performance of pitchers Megan Rhodes and Ashton Ward entering the Florida series.

“In SEC play we’ve got a team ERA of 3.09, Florida’s is 1.04,’’ he said. “Our pitchers are performing in the bullpen, but they don’t always bring it to the mound. The key is consistency and translating their abilities from the bullpen to the mound.’’

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© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.