University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Cincinnati
Christensen, Vols Rally Past Cincinnati, 5-3
March 22, 2000 | Baseball
Jeff Christensen hit a two-run home run with two outs and the score tied in the eighth to give the Tennessee Volunteers a 5-3 victory over Cincinnati on Wednesday. Christensen popped the home run over the center field fence on a 2-0 count that gave Tennessee their second straight come from behind win. The Volunteers (23-6) had to come from behind in yesterday's game with the Bearcats to take a 5-2 decision. The win gives Tennessee a perfect 4-0 all-time record against the Bearcats who fell to 15-5 with the loss.
The Vols took an early 2-0 lead but the Bearcats got within one after third baseman Kevin Youkilis hit a home run that bounced off the stadium scoreboard. Cincinnati took the lead in the top of the seventh after Vol pitcher Will Curtiss walked Mark Belcher home and gave up a RBI single that scored Anthony Snowell. Chris Burke hit a crucial RBI single in the Vol half of the seventh that scored Brandon Crowe to tie the game at 3-3. Burke finished the night with a 2-3 performance to lead the team.
Kris Bennett's 0-4 plate performance snapped a 20-game hitting streak that he began against Hawaii-Hilo on Feb. 12. The junior third baseman made his first start of the season at shortstop replacing Stevie Daniel who did not start the game due to a sprained left wrist.
The Vol pitching staff threw a season-high eight pitchers on the evening and struckout nine batters as a staff. Senior Logan Brummitt earned his first win of the season after tossing 2 1/3 innings. Brummitt struck out two consecutive batters in the eighth on his way to four strikeouts on the night.
Cincinnati pitcher Joey List, playing with a temperature of 102 degrees, pitched Cincinnati's second straight complete game. List played the game despite a high fever and struckout eight batters while giving up just seven hits. With the loss, List falls to 1-1 on the season.
Tennessee will head back into Southeastern Conference play this weekend when they host rival Kentucky in a three-game series beginning on Friday evening at 7 p.m. at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Saturday's game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net with a game-time of 4 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday afternoon with a 2 p.m. match-up.
