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Tennessee (3-0) at ESPN Radio 1340 Shootout
| Games 4-6 | | Feb. 14-16, 2003 | | Television: None | | Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park (6,000) | | The Series | | | | Probable Pitchers | Feb. 14 w 5 p.m. vs. The Citadel
UT - Ben Riley, LHP, Jr. (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
The Citadel - Matt Hamer, RHP, Sr. (9-2, 1.52 ERA in 2002) | Feb. 15 w 10 a.m. vs. James Madison
UT - Derek Tharpe, LHP, Jr. (1-0, 1.80 ERA)
JMU - Mike Trussell, RHP, Sr. (1-1, 3.62 ERA in 2002) | Feb. 16 w 10 a.m. vs. Old Dominion
UT - Brandon Crowe, RHP, Jr. (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
ODU - Ricky Shefka, RHP, Fr.) | | Up Next | | Feb. 21-23 vs. Bowling Green State | Complete UT Release (pdf)
  Download Free Acrobat Reader SEC Notes THE COACHES:
Tennessee Volunteers
Rod Delmonico (Liberty 1980)
Overall Record: 14th year --519-278 (.651)
2003 season : 3-0
2003 Schedule/Results
2003 Statistics The Citadel Bulldogs
Fred Jordan (The Citadel, 1979)
Overall Record: 12th year --363-235 (.607)
2003 Schedule
2002 Statistics James Madison Dukes
Joe McFarland (Hillsdale College BA 1976, Appalachian State MA 1981)
Overall Record: 6th year --166-124-2 (.568)
2003 Schedule
2002 Statistics Old Dominion Monarchs
Tony Guzzo (East Carolina in 1971)
Overall Record: 9th year --178-103 (.633)
2003 Schedule
2002 Statistics |
| ESPN RADIO 1340 SHOOTOUT Tennessee hits the road for the first time as it travels to Charleston, S.C., to play in the ESPN Radio 1340 Shootout hosted by The Citadel. This is the sixth time in the last nine years the Vols have traveled to play in a tournament hosted by The Citadel.
They are 16-4 in seven tournaments hosted by The Citadel and have won at least two games every time, going undefeated on three occasions (1995, 1998, 2001).
UT is 48-37-1 all-time in in-season tournaments since its first at The Citadel Tournamen in 1967. The Vols have been to at least one in-season tournament every year since 1994. | The Citadel Bulldogs 3-5 | | 3/23/1967 | Charleston | 0-1 | L | | 3/19/1971 | Charleston (12) | 3-4 | L | | 3/20/1971 | Charleston | 2-4 | L | | 5/25/1995 | Knoxville (NCAA) | 5-2 | W | | 2/14/1998 | Charleston | 5-1 | W | | 2/20/1999 | Charleston | 1-9 | L | | 2/20/2000 | Charleston | 5-3 | W | | 2/18/2001 | Charleston | 2-15 | L | | Old Dominion Monarchs 4-0 | | 2/23/1996 | Wilmington, N.C. | 11-8 | W | | 2/13/1998 | Charleston, S.C. | 7-6 | W | | 2/21/1999 | Charleston, S.C. | 15-9 | W | | 2/9/2001 | Charleston, S.C. | 10-4 | W | TENNESSEE VS. THE FIELD
THE CITADEL SERIES -- Tennessee and The Citadel have met eight times with the Bulldogs holding a 5-3 series lead. The teams first met in the 1967 Citadel Tournament with the Bulldogs winning 1-0. In fact, seven of the eight meetings have been in Charleston, with the only other meeting coming in Knoxville at the 1995 NCAA Regional, UT's first ever win over The Citadel. The squads have split the last four meetings in Charleston.
Head coach Rod Delmonico is 3-2 against The Citadel and 50-5 all-time against teams that currently comprise the Southern Conference.
JAMES MADISON SERIES -- Tennessee and James Madion will be meeting for the first time on the diamond. Head coach Rod Delmonico is a perfect 7-0 against teams that comprise the Colonial Athletic Association.
OLD DOMINION SERIES -- Tennessee and Old Dominion will be meeting for the fifth time with the Volunteers holding a 4-0 series lead. The last three meetings have taken place in Charleston, S.C., with the inaugural game being played in Wilmington, N.C., in 1996.? TENNESSEE AT A GLANCE
The Tennessee Volunteers are 3-0 for the first time since 2001 when they started 5-0. The best start to a season came in 1992 when the Vols began 8-0. The three-game series sweep over Morehead State was the first for Tennessee since sweeping UNC Asheville at home last March.
Following this weekend's tournament in Charleston, S.C., the Volunteers open a 10-game home stand, their longest of the season. Tennessee plays host to Bowling Green State (2/21-23) before taking on West Virginia (3/1-2). The schedule then steps up a notch with 2002 NCAA Regional representatives Louisville (3/4-5) and Miami (3/7-9) coming to town.
The Volunteers are 107-47 in the month of February. They were 4-8 in February last year, marking only the fourth time in school history they had a losing record in that month. BEN RILEY NAMED SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
University of Tennessee junior left hander Ben Riley was named the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week following the first weekend of action in the league.
The West Des Moines, Iowa, native pitched the Volunteers to a 13-0 season-opening victory over Morehead State. He faced one batter over the minimum for five innings of work, giving up only one hit, a single.
Riley, who struck out the side in the first inning, fanned five of the first seven batters he faced, finished with seven total and no walks.
He also forced batters into just one fly ball out and seven ground ball outs. He threw only 67 pitches with 46 strikes
He becomes the first Vol to garner the award since Jeffery Terrell tossed a no-hitter against Bowling Green last season. UP NEXT
Tennessee opens at 10-game home stand with a three-game series against the Bowling Green State Falcons from the Mid-American Conference, Feb. 21-23. The Vols took two of three last year in Knoxville, including a no-hitter in the series opener. UT leads the series 4-1 since the first meeting in 1993. It will be the season opener for the Falcons. Head coach Rod Delmonico is 4-1 against BGSU and 19-6 all-time versus MAC teams. THE NEW ESTABLISHMENT
The 2003 Tennessee Volunteers will be the most youthful cast of characters head coach Rod Delmonico has ever had. Of the 34 players on the roster, 28 players have one or no years of experience at the Division I level. Only pitchers Brandon Crowe, Dusty Johnson, Beau Massey, Patrick Hicklen, Scot Drucker and catcher Javi Herrera have more, and all of them have two years. Hicklen is out for 2003 after having Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last summer, and Drucker must sit out for one year after transferring from Florida. The 16 players who have played major college baseball have a combined 22 years of experience.
There are 20 newcomers, the most ever for a Rod Delmonico team, to go with 13 letterman and one squad member.
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SEC NOTES
VOLUNTEERS PICKED FOURTH IN SEC EAST
Tennessee was tabbed to finish fourth in the SEC Eastern Division by the league coaches, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. The Vols were picked third last year, but finished in fourth place. In 2001, UT was picked fourth and wound up third at the CWS. (See sidebar on page 4 for complete preseason SEC rankings) PITCHING NOTES | NAME, POS | Hometown | | Martin Evans, C | Birmingham, Ala. (Vestavia Hills HS) | | ^Scott Feldman, RHP | Burlingame, Calif. (San Mateo CC/Burlingame HS) [Houston, 41st round 2002] | | David Hernandez, OF | Miami, Fla. (Florida Christian School) | | Chris Howell, RHP | Fitzgerald, Ga. (Pensacola CC/Tift Area Academy) | | ^Eric King, INF | Antioch, Calif. (Los Medanos CC/Deer Valley HS) [Pittsburgh, 35th round 2002] | | Sean Watson, RHP | Miami, Fla. (Florida Christian School) | | ^previously drafted | HERRERA NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA
Junior catcher Javi Herrera was named third team preseason All-America by Baseball America, despite missing most of the 2002 season due to injury.
He was a first team Freshman All-America in 2001 after batting .296 with seven home runs and 45 RBI. He hit .200 in only 18 games last season.
Herrera rates as one of the top catchers in the nation, having played on the USA National Team in 2001, and would have been invited back for 2002 had he not gotten injured.
He ranks as the No. 23 college prospect by Baseball America and the No. 3 catcher behind South Carolina's Landon Powell and Florida State's Tony Richie. Herrera is also listed at No. 20 among the top 50 juniors in nation.
He is ranked as the No. 4 draft prospect in the SEC by Baseball America behind Landon Powell, c, South Carolina, Paul Maholm, lhp, Mississippi State and Aaron Hill, ss/3b, Louisiana State.
Another receiving preseason honors was Brian Cleveland who was named SEBaseball.com's preseason Newcomer of the Year. SEBaseball.com also selected Walter Sevilla to its First Team Preseason All-Conference squad and Jordan Czarniecki was named to its Second Team. Ben Riley received Honorable Mention.
TEAMS CAPTAINS NAMED FOR 2003
Head coach Rod Delmonico tabbed Javi Herrera, Ben Riley, Jordan Czarniecki and Patrick Hicklen as team captains for the 2003 season. Herrera and Hicklen were team captains last year, but Hicklen will sit out this season rehabilitating from elbow surgery. Herrera is also coming off an injury plagued season that saw him limited to just 18 games played.
Riley returns as the team's leading pitcher, while Czarniecki is the leading offensive returnee, having paced the squad in 10 offensive categories last year. Czarniecki, who stole 24 bases last year, was rated as the second-best base runner in the league behind Auburn's Javon Moran by Baseball America |
