Vols Open SEC Play at Auburn This Weekend

March 12, 2003

QUICK FACTS

Tennessee (10-5) vs. Auburn (16-4)

Games 16-18

Mar. 14-16, 2003

Television: CSS (Sunday only)

Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park (4,096)

The Series

Overall: Auburn leads 71-27
Last series: AU 3-0, UT 5-2, AU 8-1; Mar. 22-24, 2002 at UT

Probable Pitchers

Mar. 14 - 6:30 p.m.
UT - Ben Riley, LHP, Jr. (1-2, 3.81 ERA)
AU - Eric Brandon, Jr., RHP (1-1, 6.56)

Mar.15 - 3 p.m.
UT - Luke Hochevar, RHP, Fr. (3-1, 2.25 ERA)
AU - Colby Paxton, Jr., RHP (2-1, 3.15 ERA)

Mar. 16 - 1:30 p.m.
UT - Derek Tharpe, LHP, Jr. (2-1, 4.38 ERA)
AU - Arnold Hughey, So., LHP (3-1, 3.86 ERA)

Up Next

March 19 vs. Purdue - 3 p.m.
Mar. 21-23 vs. South Carolina - 7 p.m., 7 p.m., 2 p.m.

Complete UT Release (pdf)
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Radio:

The Vol Radio Network.

WNOX 990 AM/99.1 FM
Jeff Jacoby, pbp

Baseball Radio Broadcast Schedule

Rankings:
Tennessee: Not Ranked
Auburn: 9 NCBWA / 10 BA / 11 ESPN / 14 CB

Pitching Notes

THE COACHES:
Tennessee Volunteers
Rod Delmonico (Liberty 1980)
Overall Record: 14th year --529-283 (.651)
versus Auburn: 9-24
2003 Schedule/Results
2003 Statistics

Auburn Tigers
Steve Renfroe: (Auburn 1982)
Overall Record: 3rd year--87-51 (.630)
versus Tennessee: 5-1
2003 Schedule
2003 Statistics

Projected Lineup

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS

Pos - Name		2002 Stats	Quick Notes
C -	Javi Herrera	360-2-8	Three multi-hit games in last four; Hit in five of last six, going 8-for-20 (.400)
1B -	Michael Rivera	422-2-11	Moves from RF to 1B; Last start at 1B vs. ODU; Is 15-for-27 (.556) over last six games
2B -	Walter Sevilla	269-0-13	Is just 2-for-31 (.065) with two RBI over the last seven games
3B -	Nick Crowe	405-1-9	On career-high tying six-game hit streak, batting .444
SS -	Brian Cleveland	283-2-18	Hit safely in nine last 10, going 12-for-39 (.308); Last two hits have been doubles
LF -	Josh Alley	300-0-2	Made three starts in LF (ODU, Louisville 3/5, Miami 3/8)
CF -	Jordan Czarniecki	327-0-11	Hit in five of last six; Drawn a walk in each of last three games; Team leader with 10 SBs
RF -	Chad LeGate	361-1-10	Moves to RF after 11 starts in LF; Last start in RF vs. ODU; 5 RBI last four games
DH -	Alex Suarez	308-0-5	Hit in six of last seven; Had season-high six-game hit streak snapped 3/9

GAME NOTES

TENNESSEE VS. Auburn

Tennessee and Auburn have met 98 times with the Tigers holding a 71-27 series lead since the first meeting in 1948. The teams have met on a yearly basis since 1994 with Auburn winning 13 of the last 14 games.

It marks the first time since 1984 that the Vols have opened league play on The Plains. Auburn has won the last six series' over Tennessee dating back to 1997. UT's last series win over Auburn came in 1996 in Knoxville, while the last series win at Auburn was in 1988. The Vols have never swept a three-game series from the Tigers

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TENNESSEE AT A GLANCE
The Volunteers look to snap a four-game losing streak when they open Southeastern Conference play at Auburn this weekend. They suffered a four-game drought last year and have not dropped five straight since 1993.

They are coming off a nine-game home stand that saw them go 4-5. UT drew 7754 fans for the Miami series which was the largest attendance for a three-game series since drawing 8889 for the LSU series in 1997. The season-high crowd of 3105 against Miami 3/8 was UT's largest regular season draw since 3337 versus LSU 3/29/1997.

Following this weekend's series Tennessee returns home for five more games against Purdue, South Carolina and Tennessee Tech.

UT tied the best start in school history at 8-0 established by the 1992 team. It was the longest win streak since two eight-game streaks in 2001.

After getting off the 8-0 start, Tennessee jumped back into the national polls at No. 24 by Collegiate Baseball. The Vols were ranked as high as No. 17 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association last week, while settling at No. 22 in the ESPN/Sports Weekly and No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball polls. They are unranked this week.

When the Vols win, they win big as as eight of the 10 wins have been decided by five runs or more. They have also won three games in their final at-bat this season. (The Citadel, Old Dominion, Bowling Green G1).

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UP NEXT
Tennessee returns home for a five-game home stand beginning with a single game against the Purdue Boilermakers from the Big 10 Conference, Mar. 19 at 3 p.m. The Vols then host 2002 College World Series runner-up South Carolina Mar. 21-23. Games times are 7 p.m., 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. CSS will televise the Mar. 22 games against the Gamecocks. The home stand concludes against Tennessee Tech Mar. 26 at 7 p.m.

RIVERA IS EN FUEGO
Right fielder Michael Rivera is the hottest thing going in Tennessee baseball. The true freshman has hit safely in his last six games putting up 15 hits in his last 27 at-bats for blistering .556 average. He has homered in the last two games while collecting a team-high nine multi-hit games. In fact, three of his last four hits have gone for extra bases.

Rivera became the first Vol since Stevie Daniel in 2001 to collect five hits in a game when he went 5-for-5 with four runs scored in UT's 18-2 win over Louisville 3/4.

He has hit in 13 of the last 14 games, batting .443 during that span. A hit in the opener against Auburn would tie a seven-game hit streak he had earlier in the season.

The utility player can back up at any infield slot and has seen action at first base in the late innings. Rivera had never played in the outfield until the season opener.

PITCHING NOTES

Ben Riley -- Returns to start series opener after starting second game last week ... Is 1-2 in five starts this season with a 3.81 ERA in 28.1 innings ... Has dropped his last two starts ... Team leader in innings pitched ... Opponents hitting .216 off him ... Pitched at least five innings in all five starts with a season-high 7.1 versus Miami 3/8 ... Earned win over Morehead State 2.7, striking out a season-high seven in five shutout innings ... Named SEC Pitcher of the Week honors for his performance ... Has not missed a start in his career ... Is 6-5 in 20 career starts with a 4.78 ERA ... Worked at least five innings in 16 of 20 starts ... Is 1-3 with a 5.31 ERA in March ... Is 3-3 in SEC action with a 5.71 ERA.
Last Start -- Suffered second straight loss to Miami 3/8 ... Pitched a season-high 7.1 innings, allowing six runs on six hits with five walks and three strikeouts.
Versus Auburn -- Took a loss against Auburn 3/22/02 with a career-high 11 strikeouts in eight innings ... Gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits with four walks.
Luke Hochevar -Made first two career starts last week against Louisville 3/4 and Miami 3/9 ... Won his start over the Cardinals, tossing seven shutout innings ... Took loss to the Hurricanes despite striking out a season-high 10 in 5.2 innings ... Opponents are hitting .231 ... Spent the first four weeks of the season in the bullpen picking up back-to-back wins in relief against James Madison 2/15 and Bowling Green G1 ... Against JMU he pitched the final 4.1 innings while holding the Dukes to one hit striking out four and walking none ... He retired eight of the last nine hitters he faced ... Struckout five in three innings against the Falcons ... Tossed three shutout innings in his debut against Morehead State 2/9, striking out four and walking none while giving up two hits.
Last Start -- Took first loss of the season to Miami 3/9 ... Surrendered seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits in 5.2 innings ... Struckout a season-high 10 while issuing one walk.
Derek Tharpe-- Will start the final game of a series ... Is 2-1 in five starts this season with a 4.38 ERA in 24.2 innings ... Second on team with 28 strikeouts (10.2 K/9 inn.) ... Opponents are hitting .264 ... Worked at least five innings in three starts with a season-high 6.0 coming vs. West Virginia 3/2 ... Held opponents to one run in three of five starts ... Posted a career-high 11 strikeouts in first UT start vs. Morehead State 2/8 ... Owns a 7-16 career Division I record with a 5.20 ERA ... Is 6-13 with a 5.01 ERA in 27 career starts ... Has seven complete games to his credit ... Owns a 3-9 mark with a 4.93 ERA in March ... Transfer from Samford who made 14 starts at Samford in 2002.
Last Start -- Suffered first loss of season to Miami 3/7 ... Allowed five runs on five hits in four innings ... Struckout five with three walks.
Versus Auburn -- Earned a win over Auburn 2/22/02 while at Samford ... Gave up two runs on seven hits in 7.1 innings with seven strikeouts and one walk.
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University of Tennessee Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Jordan Czarniecki

Rod Delmonico

Luke Hochevar

Chad LeGate

Ben Riley

Michael Rivera

Walter Sevilla

Alex Suarez

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