| Tennessee vs. South Carolina It's a battle for lead in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division this weekend when the Tennessee Volunteers play host to the No. 10 South Carolina Gamecocks in the second week of league action. Both teams are tied with Vanderbilt at 1-2 atop the division. The Volunteers have lost two straight and seven of their last eight, including a series defeat at Auburn last week that involved two ninth-inning setbacks.
This series marks the third of four straight weekends Tennessee faces a ranked opponent. The Vols were swept by No. 14 Miami before losing two of three to No. 10 Auburn. They play at No. 21 Florida next week. The Gators host Alabama this weekend. UT has lost five straight at home, its longest streak since dropping six in a row at the end of the 1989 season.
The Vols went 4-5 during a nine-game home stand, drawing 7,754 fans for the Miami series which was the largest attendance for a three-game series since drawing 8,889 for the LSU series in 1997. The season-high crowd of 3,105 against Miami 3/8 was UT's largest regular season draw since 3,337 versus LSU 3/29/1997. 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 to 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 on Mar. 3, 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 11 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), but are 1-3 in one-run games. VOLS RANK 37TH IN LATEST RPI
Tennessee ranks No. 37 in the latest RPI ranking published by Boyd Nation at www.boydsworld.com. The Vols have been helped in their schedule strength by playing three ranked teams over the last three weekends in Miami, Auburn and South Carolina. A series against nationally ranked Florida next weekend will also strengthen UT's RPI. RIVERA ON 10-GAME HITTING STREAK
Freshman Michael Rivera continues to swing a hot bat for Tennessee as he is on a 10-game hitting streak, the longest by a Vol this season. He is batting .435 (20-for-46) during the streak while posting a team-high 10 multi-hit games.
Rivera has hit in 17 of the last 18 games, batting .400 during that span. He 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 opened the season by starting the first 15 games in right field before moving to first base for the Auburn series and third base for the Purdue game. The utility player can play at any infield slot and had never played in the outfield until the season opener. TENNESSEE VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
Tennessee and South Carolina have met 49 times with the Gamecocks holding a 28-21 series advantage since the first meeting in 1912. Since South Carolina joined the SEC in 1992, Tennessee has won 18 of the 35 meetings, including three of the last five.
South Carolina has won four of the last five series' and six of 11 since 1992. The Vols have won two straight over the Gamecocks in Knoxville and four of the five three-game series'. UP NEXT
Tennessee concludes its five-game home stand against Tennessee Tech Mar. 26 at 7 p.m. The Vols then hit the road for the third conference series of the year at Florida, Mar. 28-30. Game times for that series are 6:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and Noon. The Saturday game is the first SEC Game of the Week televised by FOX Sports Net. Sunday's contest will be shown on the Sunshine Network in the state of Florida. STARTING PITCHER NOTES
Ben Riley -- Is 0-2 in his last five starts since getting a win over Morehead State in the season opener ... Has allowed two or fewer earned runs in five of six starts ... Team leader in innings pitched ... Opponents hitting .213 off him ... Pitched at least five innings in all six starts with a season-high 7.1 in last two starts versus Miami 3/8 and Auburn 3/15 ... 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 21 career starts with a 4.64 ERA ... Worked at least five innings in 17 of 21 starts ... Is 1-3 with a 4.89 ERA in March ... Is 3-3 in SEC action with a 5.38 ERA.
Last Start -- Took his third no decision of the year at Auburn 3/15 ... Held the Tigers to two runs on five hits in 7.1 innings, striking out four and walking three.
Versus South Carolina -- Took a loss at South Carolina last year, getting knocked out in the fourth inning after giving up seven runs on six hits with five walks and two strikeouts ... SC won 10-6. Derek Tharpe -- Is 1-1 in last five starts ... Has given up just one run in four of his six starts ... Second on team with 32 strikeouts ... Worked at least five innings four times ... Opponents are hitting .254 off him ... Is 2-1 with a 1.88 ERA in five appearances against SEC opponents, covering 24.0 innings ... Worked 6.0 innings in win vs. West Virginia 3/2 ... 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 5.04 ERA ... Is 6-13 with a 4.84 ERA in 28 career starts ... Has seven complete games to his credit ... Owns a 3-9 mark with a 4.60 ERA in March ... Transfer from Samford who made 14 starts at Samford in 2002.
Last Start -- Took a no decision in a season-high 7.0 innings at Auburn 3/16 ... Surrendered one run on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk HERRERA REACHES 100 HITS; CZARNIECKI AND SEVILLA CLOSE IN
Junior catcher Javi Herrera matched his career high with four hits against Purdue, giving him 101 hits in his career. He collected hit No. 100 with a single in the seventh inning of his 100th game. His four straight hits raised his team-leading batting average to .394 and his league-leading on-base percentage to .506.
Also closing in on 100 career hits are center fielder Jordan Czarniecki who has 96 and second baseman Walter Sevilla who has 95. HOCHEVAR THROWS FIRST COMPLETE GAME; MOVES TO BULLPEN
Freshman Luke Hochevar threw his first complete game in his third career start in UT's 9-6 win over Auburn. His record improved to 4-1 and a team-best 1.85 ERA among the starters. He leads the team in wins and strikeouts with 36.
He moves back to the bullpen for this weekend's series against South Carolina. He has not yielded run 12.1 innings of relief covering five appearances with 15 strikeouts and one walk.
He is 2-1 in three starts with a 2.91 ERA, striking out 21 in 21.2 innings while allowing 22 hits with five walks.
Hochevar began his career with a scoreless innings of 21.0 and went 24.0 innings without allowing an earned run. It was the longest scoreless innings streak since Patrick Hicklen opened his freshman campaign in 2001 with 22 1/3 scoreless innings.
HELP OFF THE BENCH
Tennessee's bench has been a productive unit thus far, as the reserves are hitting .387 with six doubles and 18 RBI. Vol pinch hitters are excelling as well, going 14-for-31 (.452) with six RBI.
Jimbo Watson leads all pinch hitters with a .750 average, going 6-for-8. Jeremy Cabbage has three pinch hits, while Josh Alley and Alex Suarez have two each.
The Vols got some help off the bench in its three games against Auburn as Jimbo Watson, Jeremy Cabbage, Alex Suarez and Justin Branson combined to go 6-for-9 with five RBI. Watson had four RBI in UT's 9-6 win. His two-run pinch hit single in the seventh tied it at five while he capped a three-run eighth with another two-run single.
Cabbage had a pinch hit in the first games, driving in one run in the sixth in the 9-6 win. Branson had a hit and a walk in his four plate appearances as a defensive replacement in right field, while Suarez got a single in his pinch hit appearance. VOLS LOOK TO REGAIN OFFENSIVE MOMENTUM
Through the first 11 games, Tennessee was batting .354 and averaging 9.7 runs per game. Over the last eight games the Vols are hitting .278 while averaging 3.6 runs per game. They have been held to four or fewer runs six times during that span with the lone win being a 9-6 triumph at Auburn G2.
In UT's eight losses, they are 9-for-66 (.136) with runners in scoring position. Six times they have been held to one or fewer hits. They have scored just 21 runs in those defeats, being held to two or fewer runs five times.
Despite that, the Vols are still hitting at a .322 clip with 48 doubles and 12 home runs while averaging 7.2 runs per game. They are batting .352 over the last three games with 38 hits.
They have collected at least 10 hits in 12 games and plated at least 10 runs five times. It has at least four doubles six times, including a season-high six versus West Virginia 3/2.
UT has its biggest offensive output of the season in a win over Louisville 3/4 when it scored 18 runs on 19 hits. PITCHING STAFF PUTTING UP SOLID NUMBERS
Tennessee pitching staff has been putting up some pretty good numbers through 19 games. In fact, the Vols' ERA is 3.39, while opponents are hitting .245, averaging 8.3 hits and 4.1 runs per game.
The Vols posted a 2.45 ERA in the Auburn series, giving up seven earned runs in 25.2 innings.
The staff opened the season without yielding an opponent home run in the first 46 innings until Old Dominion's Brandon LeNoir hit a two-run blast in the second inning.
They also average 8.17 strikeouts per nine innings while walking just 2.8. That's a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.0. The 1965 pitching staff holds the record of 8.91 strikeouts per nine innings.
The pitchers have posted at least 10 strikeouts in seven games with a high of 17 against Morehead State 2/8.
Even more impressive is the fact that the staff has given up three or fewer walks 14 times. UT's 1994 pitching staff holds the record of 3.04 walks per nine innings. The 1996 staff is second at 3.26. Twenty of the 50 walks issued came in three games against Louisville 3/5 and Miami 3/7-8.
The staff has not given up more than four earned runs in 14 contests and has been touched for only 39 extra-base hits among the 157 given up (25 percent). They have held the opponents to eight or fewer hits 13 times. ON THE BASES
Tennessee's nine steals versus Morehead State 2/8 marked the fifth highest stolen base effort in school history. The Vols were a perfect 9-for-9 with Walter Sevilla stealing three, Jordan Czarniecki and Chad Legate getting two apiece while Brian Cleveland and Javi Herrera had one each.
Czarniecki, who is 12-of-14 on the season, is UT's active leader with 36. Sevilla is right behind with 31, while going 6-for-9. SEC NOTES
* The Vols are 1-2 after the first week in SEC play. The last time UT was 1-2 was in 2000.
* UT held the lead or was tied entering the ninth inning in all three Auburn games
* Tennessee's pitching staff posted a 2.45 ERA against Auburn
* The Vols play their next two series against Eastern Division teams (South Carolina & at Florida) TENNESSEE ON TV
Comcast Sports Southeast / Charter Sports Southeast announced that it will televise all five of the University of Tennessee's Saturday Southeastern Conference home baseball games at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. As a result, start time for those five games has been moved to 7 p.m. ET.
The CSS schedule for Tennessee home baseball games is as follows: Mar. 22 South Carolina, Apr. 5 Mississippi, Apr. 12 Georgia, May 3 Alabama, May 10 Arkansas CSS will also air two other home games against Georgia 4/11 and Alabama 5/4 in addition to road games at Auburn 3/16, Kentucky 4/19, LSU 3/26 and Vanderbilt 5/17.
FOX Sports Net South will show the Saturday 3/29 Florida game while the Sunshine Network will air the Sunday Florida game. Cox Sports will televise the LSU game on Apr. 26 and the Louisiana Sports Network will show the LSU game on Apr. 27. Tennessee will be on live television 15 times during the 2003 regular season. ? | 
