University of Tennessee Athletics
Baseball Vols to Play a Pair of Midweek Games
March 31, 2003 | Baseball
March 31, 2003
Knoxville, Tenn. -- The Tennessee baseball team opens up a nine-game home stand with a pair of midweek non-conference games against the Wofford College Terriers and the East Tennessee State Buccaneers on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Both games at Lindsey Nelson Stadium will be at 7 p.m. ET.
All of this is in preparation for a three-game series against the Mississippi Rebels who come to town Apr. 4-6. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday with Sunday's finale at 2 p.m. Both the Vols and Rebels are smarting after being swept last weekend. Mississippi State shut out the Rebels twice and limited them to four runs in the series, while Tennessee was swept at Florida. Something will have to give this weekend as both teams try to climb back into their respective division races.
The Volunteers (15-11) look to break a three-game losing streak by sending junior left hander Dusty Johnson (2-1, 2.42 ERA) to start against Wofford (4-20). He will be limited to no more than three innings after pitching on Sunday. Sophomore right hander Rob Fitzgerald (0-0, 1.08 ERA) will make his second start of the season Wednesday after taking a no decision against Tennessee Tech last week.
Junior catcher Javi Herrera has been hot for the Volunteers, slugging three home runs over the past five games, raising his team-leading batting average to .352. He has drawn a team-high 18 walks for a .472 on-base percentage.
Wofford will counter with senior left hander Culley Kline (0-5, 15.19), while the Bucs (9-15) will throw freshman left hander Steven Calicutt (2-2, 4.21 ERA).
The Terriers have lost four straight games and are 1-8 on the road. Designated hitter Jason Nidiffer is the only hitter batting over .300 at .302, while the pitching staff yields over 10 runs per game.
ETSU took a doubleheader from Wofford over the weekend to snap their four-game losing streak. They are 0-6 against Southeastern Conference teams this year, having dropped three to Mississippi State and one each to Kentucky and Vanderbilt. The Buccaneer roster consists of five players from the Knoxville area, including sophomore designated hitter Davis Burklin who leads the club with a .327 average.
