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Tennessee (12-13) vs. Auburn (18-5)
| Games 26-28 | | Mar. 22-24, 2002 | | Television: None | | Lindsey Nelson Stadium (4,000) | | The Series | | Auburn leads 69-26
Last Series: Mar. 30-Apr. 1, 2001 in Auburn, AU 11-3, AU 9-2, AU 7-2
2) | | Probable Pitchers | Mar. 22 Auburn 7 p.m.
UT - Ben Riley, LHP, So. (2-0, 3.82 ERA)
AU - Levale Speigner, RHP, Jr. (4-2, 3.57 ERA) | Mar. 23 Auburn 4 p.m.
UT - Patrick Hicklen, RHP, So. (3-3, 7.39 ERA)
AU - Eric Brandon, RHP, So. (3-0, 2.25 ERA) | Mar. 24 Auburn 2 p.m.
UT - Jeffery Terrell, LHP, Jr. (2-3, 3.76 ERA)
AU - Colby Paxton, RHP, So. (5-1, 3.68 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
Rankings
BA - UT (nr), AU (nr)
CB - UT (nr), AU(nr)
BW - UT (nr), AU (19) Complete UT Release (pdf)
  Download Free Acrobat Reader THE COACHES:
Tennessee Volunteers
Rod Delmonico (Liberty 1980)
Overall Record: 13th year -- 504-263 (.657)
at Tennessee: 13th year --504-263 (.657)
2002 Schedule/Results
2002 Statistics Auburn Tigers
Steve Renfroe(Auburn 1982)
Overall Record: 2nd year -- 55-26 (.679)
2002 Schedule
2002 Statistics |
| Tennessee at a Glance
 | | | Tennessee has won two straight since getting swept in the first weekend of Southeastern Conference action at Alabama. With a two-game sweep over Cincinnati, the Vols posted their sixth consecutive non-conference victory.
Injured starters Javi Herrera (C) and Ryan Moffett (OF) made their returns against Cincinnati 3/19. Herrera had missed 15 games with a broke right hamate bone, while Moffett was out 14 games with a fractured left eye orbital.
Hal Bibee and Walter Sevilla bring career-high 11-game hitting streaks into tonight's game.
After going 4-8 in February, the Vols are 8-5 in March and look to get back to the .500 mark this weekend against Auburn.
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.
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). AUBURN SERIES
Auburn holds a 69-26 series lead over Tennessee since the first meeting in 1948. The Tigers have won the last 11 meetings dating back to 1998 and five straight in Knoxville. The teams have met yearly since 1994.
UT's last win over the Tigers came in Knoxville on Apr. 24, 1998, 5-1. The Vols last won a series over Auburn in 1996 in Knoxville.
Here are the longest winning steaks against UT by SEC opponents: | ? | | 13 Kentucky 1919-39 | | 12 LSU 1996-99 | | 12 Florida 1955-60 | | 11 Auburn 1998-Pres. | | 11 Georgia 1956-61 |
AUBURN SERIES SINCE 1990 | 5/12/1990 | Knoxville | 8-2 | W | | 5/12/1990 | Knoxville (7) | 3-4 | | L | | 5/13/1990 | Knoxville | 3-12 | | L | | 5/11/1991 | Auburn | 2-6 | | L | | 5/12/1991 | Auburn (10) | 5-4 | W | | 5/12/1991 | Auburn | 2-3 | | L | | 4/1/1994 | Knoxville | 3-6 | | L | | 4/2/1994 | Knoxville | 1-3 | | L | | 4/3/1994 | Knoxville | 8-4 | W | | 3/31/1995 | Auburn | 13-6 | W | | 4/1/1995 | Auburn | 1-5 | | L | | 4/2/1995 | Auburn | 3-11 | | L | | 3/15/1996 | Knoxville | 7-3 | W | | 3/16/1996 | Knoxville (10) | 5-10 | | L | | 3/17/1996 | Knoxville | 11-0 | W | | 3/14/1997 | Auburn (10) | 5-4 | W | | 3/15/1997 | Auburn | 4-16 | | L | | 3/16/1997 | Auburn | 3-5 | | L | | 4/24/1998 | Knoxville | 5-1 | W | | 4/25/1998 | Knoxville | 8-22 | | L | | 4/26/1998 | Knoxville | 8-11 | | L | | 4/9/1999 | Auburn | 13-19 | | L | | 4/10/1999 | Auburn | 3-6 | | L | | 4/11/1999 | Auburn | 4-16 | | L | | 4/14/2000 | Knoxville (10) | 3-4 | | L | | 4/15/2000 | Knoxville | 4-6 | | L | | 4/16/2000 | Knoxville | 6-7 | | L | | 3/30/2001 | Auburn | 3-11 | | L | | 3/31/2001 | Auburn | 2-9 | | L | | 4/1/2001 | Auburn | 2-7 | | L | A LOOK AT AUBURN
Auburn is 18-5 overall and 2-1 in SEC play after beating Kentucky at Plainsman Park last weekend. The 2-1 league record is Auburn's best start since 1999.
They are led by junior catcher/DH Bobby Huddleston who is batting .438 with two home runs and 16 RBI. Huddleston played three games at Tennessee in 1999 before taking a medical redshirt following a wrist injury.
Catcher Trent Pratt has a team-high five home runs for the Tigers who are outscoring the opposition by 4.7 runs per game.
Eric Brandon is the ace of the pitching staff which holds opponents to a .227 average. Brandon tossed a perfect game against Murray State 3/2.
Nine Tiger pitchers also combined to no-hit Alabama-Birmingham on Tuesday.
Sophomore Colby Paxton is 5-1 in six starts on the season and was named SEC Pitcher of the Week after tossing one-hit shutout against Kentucky Sunday. ON DECK
Tennessee continues in Southeastern Conference action as it travels to Athens, Ga., to face the Georgia Bulldogs, Mar. 29-31. Game times are 6:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 2 p.m. SEC ACTION
Tennessee started the Southeastern Conference season 0-3 for the first time since 1993. The six runs scored against Alabama was the fewest in a league series since scoring six at LSU in 1996.
UT has not lost four straight to start conference play since 1987 and has not begun 0-6 since 1988.
The Vols put their three-game conference home winning streak on the line when they entertain the Auburn Tigers.
Walter Sevilla got off to a hot start in SEC play by going 7-for-12 (.583) with two doubles and three runs scored.
Dennis Gomez slugged two home runs in the first two games of the Alabama series. Sevilla and Gomez accounted for five of UT's six runs against Alabama.
Thanks to a 3-for-4 game Sunday, Brandon Hopkins has started league action at .400. MEDICAL UPDATE
PROBABLE -- RF Ryan Moffett (small fracture on left eye orbital vs. Bowling Green State 2/17)
C Javi Herrera (broken left hamate bone vs. Bowling Green State 2/16 -- 4-6 weeks following successful surgery 2/19)
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. HERRERA ON BENCH AWARD LIST
Sophomore catcher Javi Herrera is on the official watch list for the Johnny Bench Award which goes to the top collegiate catcher. It is the second straight year Herrera has been a candidate for the honor.
The finalists will be announced at the College World Series with the presentation of the award in late June. 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. DELMONICO GETS 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.
With 504 wins, he needs 12 more 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. OFFENSIVE NOTES - UT has recorded three straight 10-plus hit games, a season-high. It is 34-for-104 (.327) during that span.
- The Vols have been held to five or fewer runs in four of the last five games and 15 times this season.
- Tennessee has doubled in 22 of 25 games on the season, with a season-high five done four times, most recently against Cincinnati 3/20.
- The Vols have four multi-home run games, with a season-high five coming at Minnesota 3/3. They have homered in four of the last five and six of nine.
- Tennessee stole a season-high seven bases vs. UNC Asheville 3/10. The Vols are averaging 1.9 steals per game, led by Walter Sevilla's 12 and Jordan Czarniecki's nine. They have been held without a steal five times.
- After starting the season 13-of-14 (92.9%) in the stolen base department, the Vols have been successful on just 35 of their last 53 attempts (66.0%)
- Despite going 4-for-23 (.174) with the bases loaded this season, the Vols have managed to drive in 27 runs. They have done it on 10 walks, four sacrifice flies and seven ground outs.
- UT is batting .262 with runners in scoring position. They have been held to one or less hit with RISP nine times, including hitless six times. Over the last five games, they are batting .176 (9-for-51) with RISP.
- Tennessee has been held to seven or fewer hits 10 times, while collecting at least 10 hits 12 times.
- The Vols have played six error-free games this season, including two of the last four.
PITCHING NOTES - The Vols have a 5.70 ERA over the last seven games with 46 strikeouts and 29 walks in 60 innings.
- They have allowed 23 extrabase hits during that span (15 doubles, three triples, five home runs)
- The staff has allowed four or fewer earned runs 15 times. They had a four-game stretch 3/2-6 (Florida Atlantic, Minnesota, Morehead) where they posted a 1.95 ERA.
- Tennessee has posted at least a dozen strikeouts five times and has eight games with at least nine strikeouts.
- The Vols have hit 10 batters over the last six games. They plunked just 11 in the first 19, and eight of those came in the first five games.
- Tennessee's starting pitchers are 9-9 with a 4.93 ERA. They have worked at least 5.0 innings in 11 of the last 13 games.
- UT's bullpen is 3-4 with three saves and a 5.00 ERA. The pen has worked at least four innings 12 times.
- 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.
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. |
