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Tennessee (10-10) at Alabama (16-2)
| Games 21-23 | | March 15-17 , 2002 | | Television: None | | Sewell-Thomas Stadium (6, 118)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. | | The Series | | ALABAMA SERIES | | Alabama leads 52-23
Last Meeting: Mar. 1, 2002 in Minneapolis, UA 9-0 | | Probable Pitchers | Mar. 15 c at Alabama 7:30 p.m. ET
UT - Ben Riley, LHP, So. (2-0, 3.51 ERA)
UA - Lance Cormier, RHP, Sr. (5-0, 0.71) | Mar. 16 c at Alabama 4 p.m. ET
UT - Patrick Hicklen, RHP, So. (3-2, 6.37 ERA)
UA - Josh Baker, RHP, Fr. (2-0, 5.06 ERA) | Mar. 17 c at Alabama 4 p.m. ET
UT - Jeffery Terrell, LHP, Jr. (2-2, 3.77 ERA)
UA - Shane Sanders, RHP, Sr. (3-0, 3.97 ERA) | 2002 Tennessee
Season Ticket Information | RADIO: The Vol Radio Network. The games can be listened to locally in Knoxville on WNOX (990 AM/99.1 FM). The team of John Wilkerson and Jeff Jacoby make the call. Pregame is 15 minutes prior to first pitch.  Listen to Vol Network Broadcast
Friday - 99.1 FM
Saturday - 990 AM/ 99.1 FM
Sunday - 99.1 FM Listen to Delmonico Teleconference (3/13) RANKINGS
BA - UT (nr), UA (19)
CB - UT (nr), UA (17)
BW - UT (nr), UA (16) Complete UT Release (pdf)
  Download Free Acrobat Reader THE COACHES:
Tennessee Volunteers
Rod Delmonico (Liberty 1980)
Overall Record: 13th year -- 502-260 (.659)
at Tennessee: same
2002 Schedule/Results
2002 Statistics Alabama
Jim Wells (Northwestern State 1979)
Overall Record: 528-228 (.698)
at Alabama: 336-139 (.707)
2002 Schedule/ Results
2002 Statistics
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| Delmonico Picks up Career Win No. 500 Head coach Rod Delmonico picked up career win No. 500 with a 6-4 victory over the UNC Asheville Bulldogs, Mar. 8. He became the ninth coach in Southeastern Conference history to reach the 500-win mark, doing it in 760 games which was the third-fastest in league history.
He needs 14 more wins to pass Auburn's Paul Nix for seventh place.
As Tennessee's winningest coach, Delmonico has accounted for nearly 33 percent of the school's total victories. | SEC ALL-TIME COACHING WINS | | Name, School | Record | | 1. *Ron Polk, Miss. State/Georgia | 976-472-1 | | 2. Skip Bertman, LSU | 870-330-3 | | 3. *Keith Madison, Kentucky | 704-574-5 | | 4. *Roy Mewbourne, Vanderbilt | 641-584-9 | | 5. Hal Baird, Auburn | 634-328 | | 6. Dave Fuller, Florida | 557-354-6 | | 7. Paul Nix, Auburn | 515-376 | | 8. *Rod Delmonico, Tennessee | 502-260 | | 9. Steve Webber, Georgia | 500-403-1 | | | FASTEST TO 500 WINS | | Name, School | No. | Record | | 1. Skip Bertman, LSU | 689 | 500-188-1 | | 2. Ron Polk, MSU | 725 | 500-225 | | 3. Rod Delmonico, UT | 760 | 500-260 | | 4. Hal Baird, AU | 769 | 500-269 | | 5. Dave Fuller, UF | 800 | 500-295-5 | | 6t. Keith Madison, UK | 861 | 500-358-3 | | 6t. Paul Nix, AU | 861 | 500-361 | | 8. Steve Webber, UG | 903 | 500-402-1 | | 9. Roy Mewbourne, VU | 935 | 500-426-9 | | Tennessee at a Glance
 | | LF Brandon Hopkins has seven RBI last four games, and scored 11 runs in last seven contests. | Tennessee is on a season-high four-game winning streak and has won six of its last seven. The Vols are at the .500 mark (10-10) for the first time since the second game of the season (1-1).
Head coach Rod Delmonico picked up the 500th win of his career versus UNC Asheville 3/8. He became the ninth coach in SEC history to reach the milestone and the third fastest, doing it in 760 games.
Hal Bibee and Walter Sevilla enter the Alabama series on six-game hitting streaks. Both streaks are career-highs for both.
Nick Crowe, Chad LeGate, Matt Sternberg and Dennis Gomez are all on four-game hitting streaks.
UT has scored at least 10 runs in four of the last six games after just three in the first 14.
They have raised the team batting average from .260 to .297 over the last six games, thanks in part to 86 hits during that span.
The pitching staff has a dropped its ERA from 5.80 to 4.55 over the last 11 games.
Eight players have missed playing time this season due to injury (C Javi Herrera, OF Ryan Moffett, 2B Hunter Rigsby, P Ben Riley, P Jay Sadlowe, 2B Nick Crowe, INF Rob Fitzgerald, P Brandon Crowe). ALABAMA SERIES
Alabama leads the all-time series with Tennessee, 52-23, since the first meeting in 1897. The Vols have won the last two SEC series against the Tide. UT has won five of the last eight since UA's five-game winning streak in the series from 1998-99.
Alabama took a 9-0 decision over Tennessee two weeks ago at the Hormel Foods Classic, Mar. 1.
Lance Cormier struckout 11 in the complete game performance. Nick Crowe went 3-for-4 to lead the Vols. A LOOK AT ALABAMA
Alabama's 16-2 start matches their best start since 1998. The 1997 team started 19-2.
Senior right hander Lance Cormier (5-0) anchors a pitching staff that has an ERA under 3.00 and has allowed 30 walks in 142.0 innings (1.9 BB/9).
Catcher Jeremy Brown has been hot lately, hitting a team-high six home runs with 18 RBI. Third baseman Carlos Sosa is the top hitter, batting .347. ON DECK
Tennessee returns to Knoxville for a five-game homestand beginning with a two-game set against Cincinnati, Mar. 19-20, 7 p.m. both nights.
The Vols then play host to Auburn, Mar. 22-24. Game times are 7 p.m., 4 p.m. and 2 p.m. SEC ACTION
Tennessee finished second in the SEC Eastern Division last season with an 18-12 mark. It was the most wins in league play since 1996 for the Vols. They had suffered through three straight sub-.500 conference seasons prior to last year.
This marks the second straight year that UT will open up SEC play on the road. Last year, the Vols swept Florida in Gainesville, Fla., for the first time since 1971.
The Vols last opened up with Alabama in SEC play in 1999 in Knoxville. The Tide took two of three as the teams split a doubleheader on Sunday following a snow-out on Saturday.
Here is how the Vols have done on the opening weekend in SEC play under Delmonico. The final record is in parenthesis.
| 1990 -- 2-1 (9-18) | 1996 -- 2-1 (18-12) | | 1991 -- 2-1 (13-13) | 1997-- 3-0 (17-13) | | 1992 -- 2-1 (10-14) | 1998 -- 2-1 (11-17) | | 1993 -- 0-3 (20-10) | 1999 -- 1-2 (10-20) | | 1994 -- 2-1 (24-5) | 2000 -- 1-2 (10-18) | | 1995 -- 3-0 (22-8) | 2001 -- 3-0 (18-12) | MEDICAL UPDATE
OUT -- 2B Hunter Rigsby (high left ankle sprain vs. Eastern Michigan 2/22)
C Javi Herrera (broken left hamate bone vs. Bowling Green State 2/16 -- 4-6 weeks following successful surgery 2/19)
PROBABLE -- RF Ryan Moffett (small fracture on left eye orbital vs. Bowling Green State 2/17)
P Jay Sadlowe (sore right shoulder)
OUT FOR SEASON -- P Brandon Crowe underwent "Tommy John" surgery on his right elbow last July. He was a perfect 6-0 in 2001 with three saves and a team-leading 3.68 ERA. MOFFETT: McWHORTER AWARD
Senior outfielder Ryan Moffett has been chosen by Tennessee as a recipient of an SEC post-graduate scholarship and is a finalist for the 2001-02 H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.
Each finalist receives a $5,000 scholarship for post-graduate studies. The winner of the McWhorter Award will receive a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship.
Moffett is one of four baseball players in the league named as a finalist.
OFFENSIVE NOTES - The Vols have raised their team batting average from .260 to .297 over the last six games, hitting .371 (86-for-232). They have four games with at least 14 hits and two 20-hit games during that span.
- In the first 14 games, UT five 10-hit games while being held to less than eight hits seven times.
- Tennessee has collected at least three doubles in each of the last four games, including two five-double games in the last three. They have doubled in seven straight and 18 of 20 on the season.
- The Vols have four multi-home run games, with aseason-high five coming at Minnesota 3/3
- UT has scored at least 10 runs in four of the last six games after just three in the first 14.
- Tennessee stole a season-high seven bases vs. UNC Asheville 3/10. They have been held with a steal in just three games.
The Vols are averaging 2.1 steals per game, led by Walter Sevilla's 10 and Jordan Czarniecki's nine. - Despite going 3-for-20 (.150) with the bases loaded this season, the Vols have managed to drive in 21 runs. They have done it on 10 walks, three sacrifice flies and six ground outs.
- After starting the season 13-of-14 in the stolen base department, the Vols have been successful on just 29 of their last 44 attempts.
- UT is batting .281 (63x224) with runners in scoring position. They have been held to one or less hits with RISP seven times. Over the last four games, they are batting .403 with RISP
PITCHING NOTES - Tennessee's staff has posted a 3.60 ERA over the last 11 games, dropping the team ERA from 5.80 to 4.55.
- They have also boosted their strikeout-to-walk ratio during that span, posting 105 strikeouts to 35 walks. They had 46 strikeouts and 47 walks in the first nine games.
- The staff has allowed four or fewer earned runs in eight of the last 11 games, including a four-game stretch 3/2-6 (FAU, Minnesota, Morehead) where they posted a 1.95 ERA.
- Tennessee has posted at least a dozen strikeouts five times in the last 11 games and seven games with at least nine strikeouts.
- Tennessee's starting pitchers are 8-7 with a 4.94 ERA. They have worked at least 5.0 innings in seven of the last eight games.
- UT's bullpen is 2-3 with two saves and a 3.92 ERA. They are holding opponents to a .218 average.
The pen has worked at least four innings nine times. - The Vols have lost two games in which they had the lead.
Led 4-1 at Miami 2/3 Lost 9-4
Led 4-2 at ASU 2/8 Lost 7-4 - No pitcher on the active staff for the 2002 season has more than one year experience pitching at the Division I level.
- The Vols return only 10 wins from last year's 48-win season and just 173.0 innings.
TERRELL NAMED NATIONAL AND SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Tennessee junior left hander Jeffery Terrell was named the Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball National Player of the week and the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week after throwing the first nine-inning no-hitter in school history versus Bowling Green State Feb. 15, 5-0.
The no-hitter was the eighth in school history and the first since five pitchers combined to no-hit the College of Charleston in 2000.
Terrell threw 108 pitches and allowed just two base runners on a hit batsmen in the fourth inning and a walk on a 3-2 pitch in the ninth. He retired 15 straight batters at one point and finished with seven strikeouts.
For the season, Terrell is 1-0 with a save and a 1.62 ERA in 16.2 innings with 11 strikeouts and one walk. He has given up just six hits and opponents are batting .111 against him. VOLS TO PLAY SMOKIES
The Tennessee Volunteers are scheduled to play the Tennessee Smokies in an exhibition on May 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Smokies Park in Sevierville, Tenn.
It will be the first time the Vols have played against the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. The teams were scheduled to play April 7, 1988 at Bill Meyer Stadium, but the game was rained out.
The last exhibition game Tennessee played was in 1994 when the Vols were beaten by NBI Canada at the College Baseball Classic in Seattle, Wash., 14-3.
Back in the 1910s and early 1920s, Tennessee regularly played exhibitions against Major League teams traveling north from spring training in Florida. 2003 SIGNEES
Here are the early signees for the 2003 season. | NAME, POS | Hometown | | Josh Alley, OF | Anna, Ill. (Anna-Jonesboro HS) | | ^Brian Cleveland, Inf | San Jose, Calif. (San Jose CC) | | ^Blake Crigger, P | Franklin, Tenn. (Okaloosa-Walton CC) | | ^Patrick Green, P/Inf | Alpharetta, Ga. (Okaloosa-Walton CC) | | Luke Hochevar, P | Fowler, Colo. (Fowler HS) | | Justin Jones, P | Virginia Beach, Va. (Kellam HS) | | Matt Maloney, P | Huron, Ohio (Huron HS) | | Todd Martin, OF | Cookeville, Tenn. (Cookeville HS) | | Kyle Norrid, Inf | Germantown, Tenn. (Germantown HS) | | John Parscal, P | Westminster, Colo. (Northglen HS) | | ^previously drafted | |
