University of Tennessee Athletics
Herrera Leads Vols To 7-3 Win Over Gators
March 09, 2001 | Baseball
Gainesville, Fla. - Javi Herrera and Kris Bennett each hit home runs to lead the No. 23 Tennessee Volunteers to a 7-3 win over the Florida Gators in the Southeastern Conference opener at McKethan Stadium. Herrera drove in a season-high four runs with his second home run of the season in the fourth and a two-run double in the eighth.
The victory snapped Tennessee's six-game conference road losing streak and was the first win in Gainesville since 1997. It is the first time since 1997 that the Vols won their league opener, and its their first league road opening win since 1996.
Tennessee won its fourth straight game to improve to 14-2 overall and 1-0 in the SEC. Florida fell to 9-8 and 0-1 in the conference.
Despite Tennessee's top three hitters going 0-for-14, it was the bottom half of the line up that did most of the damage by collecting 10 hits. Herrera, Bennett, Brandon Hopkins and Matt Sternberg each had two hits.
Brian Gates (3-1) earned his third win in four starts, pitching six innings, allowing three runs on six hits.
Brandon Crowe (S 1) picked up his first save of the season by pitching three shutout innings with four strike outs.
Florida starter Joey Simon (3-3), who worked into the seventh, suffered the loss, allowing all seven runs on nine hits. Keith Brice relieved him, striking out three in the final two innings.
After two outs and walk, Ryan Shealy doubled to right-center to put Florida up 1-0 in the first.
It was a bittersweet inning for Tennessee in the fourth. The sweet came on Herrera's home run to left that put the Vols up 2-1. The bitter came when center fielder Brandon Hopkins left the game after dislocating his left shoulder on a steal of second base. He will undergo X-rays Saturday to determine the severity of the injury.
Tennessee extended its lead to 5-1 in the fifth on a two-run home run by Bennett, his first of the season, and a Gator error that allowed Chris Burke to score after walking and stealing third.
After retiring 10 consecutive batters, the Gators got to Gates as they added two more on three hits in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-3. They reeled off three straight hits to begin the frame, getting a run scoring single from Pat Osborn and plating their third run of the game on a fielders choice.
Game two of the series will be Saturday at 7 p.m. ET, while the final game will be Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Tennessee 000 230 020 - 7 10 1Florida 100 002 00x - 3 6 1
Tennessee - Gates, Crowe (7) and Herrera. Florida - Simon, Brice (8) and Rose. W-Gates (3-1). L-Simon (3-3). HR-UT-Herrera (2), Bennett (1). T-2:43. Att-823.
