|
Tennessee (0-0) vs. Morehead State (0-0)
| Games 1-3 | | Feb. 7-9, 2003 | | Television: None | | Lindsey Nelson Stadium (4,000) | | The Series | | Tennessee leads 14-1
Last Series: Feb. 2-3, 2002 [MSU 2-1 (10 inn.), UT 4-2]
| | Probable Pitchers | Feb. 7 w 3 p.m.
UT - Ben Riley, LHP, Jr. (5-3, 5.19 ERA in 2002)
MSU - Casey Campbell, RHP, Jr. (3-5, 7.58 ERA in 2002) | Feb. 8 w Noon
UT - Derek Tharpe, LHP, Jr. (4-7, 5.19 ERA in 2002 at Samford)
MSU - Augie Cabral, RHP, Jr. (1-4, 6.95 ERA in 2002) | Feb. 9 w 2 p.m.
UT - Brandon Crowe, RHP, Jr. (6-0, 3.68 ERA in 2001)
MSU - Adam Crawford, RHP, Sr. (2-1, 7.25 ERA in 2002) | RADIO: WNOX 990 AM/99.1 FM (Sat. & Sun. only)
John Wilkerson, pbp; Jeff Jacoby, color
Complete UT Release (pdf)
  Download Free Acrobat Reader THE COACHES:
Tennessee Volunteers
Rod Delmonico (Liberty 1980)
Overall Record: 14th year --519-278 (.651)
Versus Morehead State: 10-1
2003 Schedule/Results
2002 Statistics
Morehead State Eagles
John Jarnagin (MTSU, 1984)
Overall Record: 8th year --171-214-1 (.444)
2003 Schedule
2002 Statistics |
| 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.
TENNESSEE AT A GLANCE
The Tennessee Volunteers will open their 94th season of baseball with an all-time record of 1552-1179-14 when they play host to the Morehead State Eagles, Feb. 7-9.
UT returns just three starting position players, six pitchers and 13 letterwinners from last year's 27-28 club.
The Vols are 60-31-2 (.656) in season openers and 10-3 in lidlifters under head coach Rod Delmonico. He is 11-2 in home openers. It is the first time since 2000 and just the fifth since 1990 that Tennessee has opened at home.
The Volunteers are 104-47 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.
The last time Tennessee opened a season on Feb. 7 was in 1997 when it swept a doubleheader from Oklahoma State and Central Florida at the Olive Garden Classic in Kissimmee, Fla.
Tennessee plays 18 of its first 24 games at home, before playing 12 of its next 22 on the road. The Vols close the season by playing seven of their last 10 at home.
For the second straight year, the Volunteers will play an exhibition against the Tennessee Smokies, Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals in the Southern League. The game is slated for April 30 at 7:15 p.m. | |
| 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
MOOREHEAD STATE SERIES
Tennessee leads the series with Morehead State 14-1 after splitting a pair of games last season. The Eagles won their first-ever game over the Volunteers, 2-1 in 10 innings. UT rebounded with an 18-2 thumping the next day.
The Volunteers won the first 13 games in the series since its beginning in 1987. The teams have met on a yearly basis since 1997. All 15 meetings have been in Knoxville. Morehead State has been held to two or fewer runs 12 times in the series. This is only the second three-game series ever scheduled with MSU, the other was in 1998.
Head coach Rod Delmonico is 52-2 against teams currently in the Ohio Valley Conference. He is 10-1 against Morehead State. The Vols also have a pair of games set against OVC rival Tennessee Tech later this season.
SEC NOTES
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. (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 | |
