| Kentucky Wildcats | 137-114 | | SERIES RESULTS SINCE 1990 | | 1990 | Knoxville | 2-1 | W | | 1991 | Lexington | 1-2 | L | | 1992 | Knoxville | 3-0 | W | | 1993 | Lexington | 3-0 | W | | 1994 | Knoxville | 2-1 | W | | 1995 | Lexington | 3-0 | W | | 1996 | Knoxville | 1-2 | L | | 1997 | Lexington | 2-1 | W | | 1998 | Knoxville | 2-1 | W | | 1999 | Lexington | 1-2 | L | | 2000 | Knoxville | 1-2 | L | | 2001 | Lexington | 3-0 | W | | 2002 | Knoxville | 2-1 | W | TENNESSEE vs. KENTUCKY Tennessee and Kentucky have met 251 times with the Vols holding 137-114 series advantage since the first meeting in 1915. The Kentucky series is Tennessee's second-most played rivalry to Vanderbilt. The 137 victories are the second-most over any school the Vols have played (157 vs. Vanderbilt). The teams have met on a yearly basis since 1947.
The Vols have won six of the last seven games and the last two series.
Head coach Rod Delmonico is 30-14 against the Wildcats, which is the second-most wins he has against any team (32 vs. Vanderbilt).
Tennessee at a Glance The Tennessee Volunteers (22-14, 7-8 SEC) continue their an ambitious stretch of playing seven games in eight days when they travel to Kentucky to being playing five games over the next five days. The Vols have won two straight, four of their last five and seven of their last 10.
UT posted to midweek wins over UNC Asheville 4/16 as Dusty Johnson hurled six shutout innings and Joey Andrews picked up his first save. The Vols also defeated a scrappy ETSU squad, 8-6, Tuesday night in Johnson City. Brandon Crowe hurled 6 1/3 innings of relief for his second win, while Alex Suarez's home run leading off the seventh snapped a 5-5 tie and spurred UT on to the win. Brian Cleveland led the Vols with three hits.
That was Tennessee's first mid-week road game since playing at Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on May 9, 2001, a span of 705 days. UT is 15-6 in non-conference play this year having won its last five.
The Vols just concluded an eight-game home stand that saw them go 5-3. They now play eight of their next nine games on the road, leading up to an exhibition contest against the Double-A Tennessee Smokies minor league team on Apr. 30 at Smokies Park in Sevierville, Tenn.
Tennessee is 3-5 on the road this year, picking up wins at The Citadel, ETSU and one at Auburn. UT won two neutral site games against Old Dominion and James Madison in Charleston, S.C.
Fourteenth year head coach Rod Delmonico picked up his 200th Southeastern Conference victory in a 12-9 win over Georgia 4/11. He sits with a 201-186 mark in league games, while ranking seventh all-time in SEC history with 541 wins (292 losses). He needs 16 victories to tie Florida's Dave Fuller (557-354-6 from 1948-75) for sixth.
The Volunteers are tied with South Carolina atop the SEC Eastern Division with 7-8 records at the midway point of the conference schedule. Both teams sit one-half game ahead of Florida and one-game in front of Vanderbilt in the standings. Tennessee plays three of its final five series on the road while facing three teams from the Western Division (at LSU, Alabama, Arkansas). The two remaining series against Eastern Division teams are on the road as well against Kentucky and Vanderbilt
Tennessee has played a tough schedule thus far, facing off against a ranked team in four of the last six weekends. It swept No. 10 South Carolina, took one from No. 10 Auburn while being swept twice by No. 14 Miami and No. 15 Florida.
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.
The Vols drew 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.
When the Vols win, they win big as as 11 of the 21 wins have been decided by five runs or more. They have also won seven games in their final at-bat this season (Citadel, ODU, BGSU G1, SC G1, SC G3, TT, UG G1) but are 2-4 in one-run games. VOLS RANK 38TH IN LATEST RPI
After going 2-1 last week, Tennessee fell to No. 38 from No. 33 in the latest RPI rankings published by Boyd Nation at www.boydsworld.com. It peaked at No. 15 following a sweep of South Carolina. The Vols have been aided in their schedule strength by playing four ranked teams over the last six weekends in Miami, Auburn, South Carolina and Florida. This weekend's opponent, Kentucky, is 68. UP NEXT
Tennessee closes out its string of five games in five days with a make up game versus Tennessee Wesleyan Monday, Apr. 21 at 7 p.m. at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols then play the second game against Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn., Apr. 22 at 6 p.m. CT. UT took the first meeting in Knoxville, 6-5, on Mar. 26. VOL HITTING NOTES - The Volunteers feasted on Georgia's pitching, batting .385 in the series while scoring 34 runs.
- They are batting .348 (72x207) over the last six games, collecting 10 hits four times, while raising the team batting average from .288 to .298. UT ranks ninth in the league in average while having the fewest strikeouts.
- Tennessee leads the SEC with 64 stolen bases. Leading the way is Jordan Czarniecki who paces the individuals with 26 in 30 attempts. He is UT's active leader with 50 and needs seven more to vault into fifth place on UT's career list. Entering the week, he ranked 7th nationally at 0.75 steals per game and ninth in total steals with 25.
- UT has stolen 27 bases in the last 10 games, compared to 17 in the previous 15 contests.
- The Vols have amassed 16 doubles over the last six games, compared to just eight in the previous 14.
- UT'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.
- Tennessee homered in a season-high seven straight games, collecting eight round trippers from 3/23-4/2.
- The Vols collected their first triple in 18 games when Josh Alley sliced a three-bagger to right field against ETSU 4/2. It was the first triple since the West Virginia game Mar. 2.
- In UT's 14 losses, they are 16-for-96 (.167) with runners in scoring position. They have scored 47 runs in those defeats, being held to two or fewer runs seven times.
- They have collected at least 10 hits in 17 games and plated at least 10 runs eight times. UT has its biggest offensive output of the season in a win over Louisville 3/4 when it scored 18 runs on 19 hits. It also exploded for 16 runs on 19 hits against Georgia 4/12.
- UT has at least four doubles seven times, including a season-high six versus West Virginia 3/2.
| | | PINCH HITTING SEC SERIES | | ? | AVG | H-AB | RBI | BB | | AU | .800 | 4-5 | 3 | 0 | | SC | .200 | 1-5 | 0 | 0 | | UF | .250 | 1-4 | 0 | 2 | | UM | .000 | 0-2 | 1 | 4 | | UG | .556 | 5-9 | 5 | 2 | | Total | .440 | 11-25 | 9 | 8 | VOLS GET CLUTCH HITS OFF THE BENCH
Tennessee's bench has been a productive unit thus far, as the reserves are hitting .350 with seven doubles, two triples, one home run and 31 RBI. Vol pinch hitters are excelling as well, going 23-for-59 (.390) with 14 RBI and 18 walks. Pinch hitters have reached base safely on 43 of 81 plate appearances (53.9%).
Jimbo Watson leads all pinch hitters with a .562 average, going 9-for-16. He has reached base safely in 13 of 20 plate appearances for a .650 on-base percentage.
Josh Alley has four pinch hits, while Alex Suarez and Jeremy Cabbage have three pinch hits apiece.
Justin Branson became the first Vol to hit a pinch-hit grand slam since Justin Altmann against UT-Martin in 1996 when he slugged his first career home run against Georgia 4/11.
In the Auburn series, Watson, Cabbage, Suarez and Branson combined to go 6-for-9 with five RBI as reserves. 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. Brett Chappell had a triple and two sac bunts with an RBI vs. Ole Miss 4/6. In the Georgia series, UT pinch hitters went 5-for-9 with five RBI.
PITCHING NOTES
- Tennessee's pitching staff has given up just at least six runs in five of the last seven games seeing its ERA rise from 3.32 to 3.72. The ERA during that span is 5.57 (39 ER in 63.0 IP).
- The Vols are fourth in the SEC in ERA and fifth in opponent batting average at .258. They are third in the league in fewest home runs allowed with 20 despite giving up 10 in the last even games.
- Opponents are hitting .258 while averaging 8.9 hits and 4.3 runs per game.
- 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 7.94 strikeouts per nine innings while walking just 2.93. That's a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.7. The 1965 pitching staff holds the record of 8.91 strikeouts per nine innings.
- The pitchers have posted at least 10 strikeouts in nine 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 26 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 100 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 23 contests and has been touched for only 86 extra-base hits among the 318 given up (27.0 percent). They have held the opponents to eight or fewer hits 20 times.
HOCHEVAR THROWS 21.0 SCORELESS INNINGS
Freshman Luke Hochevar began his career on a high note by throwing 21.0 scoreless innings in his first five appearances, including one start. He even went 24.0 innings without allowing on earned run.
It was the longest scoreless innings streak since Patrick Hicklen opened his freshman campaign in 2001 with 22 1/3 scoreless innings.
He earned three wins in his first five appearances, including throwing seven shutout innings in a victory over Louisville 3/4 in his first career start. After a loss to Miami 3/9, when he struck out a career-high 10 batters, he threw a complete game in his third career start in UT's 9-6 win over Auburn 3/15, giving up one earned run.
STARTING PITCHER NOTES Ben Riley -- Is 2-0 in his last four starts after going 1-2 in his first six ... Has worked into at least the seventh inning in five of his last six starts ... Holds a 2.80 ERA in his last five starts, giving up three or fewer runs four times ... Has walked 12 in his last 20.0 innings with just 11 strikeouts ... Held opponents to six or fewer hits in eight of 10 starts ... Allowed three or fewer earned runs in eight of 10 starts ... Team leader in innings pitched ... Opponents hitting .205 off him ... Pitched at least five innings in all 10 starts with a season-high 8.0 in win versus South Carolina 3/23 ... Got third win over Ole Miss 4/4 ... 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 8-5 in 25 career starts with a 4.32 ERA ... Worked at least five innings in 21 of 25 starts ... Is 3-1 with a 5.26 ERA in April ... Is 5-3 in SEC action with a 4.68 ERA.
Last Start -- Took a no decision against Georgia 4/11 ... Gave up four runs on a season-high nine hits allowed with four strikeouts and one walk ... Left game trailing 4-2 before Vols rallied for 12-9 win.
Versus Kentucky -- Took a no decision last year after giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits in 5.2 innings ... Struckout eight while walking four. Derek Tharpe -- Is 2-2 in last four starts after going 2-1 in his first six ... Roughed up for 14 runs (11 earned) on 25 hits in the last 20.2 innings for a 4.79 ERA ... Struckout 18 and walked five during that span ... Given up one earned run in five of his 10 starts ... Second on team with 57 strikeouts ... Worked at least five innings eight times, including working into at least the seventh in last five ... Opponents are hitting .276 off him ... Tossed season-high 8.1 innings in win over SC 3/22 ... Is 4-3 with a 3.06 ERA in nine appearances against SEC opponents, covering 53.0 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 an 9-18 career Division I record with a 4.90 ERA ... Is 8-15 with a 4.71 ERA in 32 career starts ... Has seven complete games to his credit ... Owns a 1-3 mark with a 6.84 ERA in April ... Transfer from Samford who made 14 starts for the Bulldogs in 2002.
Last Start -- Picked up fourth win in 7.0 innings of work in 16-3 win over Georgia 4/12 ... Gave up three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and one walk.. Dusty Johnson -- Scheduled to make his sixth start ... Is 2-0 in last three starts with both wins coming in non-conference play against UNC Asheville 4/16 and Wofford 4/1 ... Taken no decisions three SEC against South Carolina 3/23, Florida 3/30 and Georgia 4/12 ... Left SC game with 6-2 lead after six innings ... In three leagues starts has allowed 10 runs on 21 hits in 10.0 innings with five strikeouts and three walks ... Got win over Wofford 4/1 with seven scoreless innings and a career-high seven strikeouts ... Began season in pen, making seven relief appearances and not allowing a run in first 13.0 innings ... Six of last eight starts have all been in league play dating back to last season ... Is 7-2 in 15 career starts with a 4.50 ERA ... Owns a 1-1 mark on the road home and 4-0 record in April.
Last Start -- Picked up his 10th career victory after pitching six shutout innings against UNC Asheville 4/16 ... Scatter four hits while striking out three and walking one ... Retired the final 11 batters he faced.. SEC NOTES - The Vols are 7-8 at the midway point in SEC play. The last time UT was 7-8 was in 1998.
- Tennessee is 5-4 against the East and 2-4 versus the West. It is 6-3 at home and 1-4 on the road.
- In the last three SEC series, UT is 3-6 with a 5.76 ERA in 78.0 innings, giving up 98 hits with 61 strikeouts and 34 walks. They have surrendered at least eight runs in three of the last four league games while giving up eight home runs in the last five games.
- After batting .225 over the previous three series, the Vols hit .385 against Georgia. In the last six league games, they have drawn 36 walks against just 28 strikeouts while stealing 17 bases in 22 attempts.
- Tennessee has done most of its damage in the eighth inning, scoring 24 of it 91 runs (26%) in that frame.
- The Vols have hit just two home runs in their last six games after slugging seven in the first nine.
- Vols won two of their three games against South Carolina in last at-bat (3-0 and 10-6)
- UT held the lead or was tied entering the ninth inning in all three Auburn games
- The Vols are 0-3 in one-run games and 1-6 in games decided by two runs or less
HERRERA NAMED TO JOHNNY BENCH AWARD LIST
Junior catcher Javi Herrera was one of 32 players listed on the initial watch list for the Johnny Bench Award given to the top national collegiate catcher as given by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission.
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.
In the Feb. 15 Baseball America Prospects Plus, he ranked as the No. 23 college prospect and the No. 3 catcher behind South Carolina's Landon Powell and Florida State's Tony Richie. Herrera, who is listed as the top collegiate player in the stat, ranks No. 20 among the top 50 juniors in nation.
He was ranked as the No. 4 draft preseason 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.
Czarniecki is listed as the No. 12 collegiate prospect in the state by Baseball America.
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.
H ELP 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. 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. 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. | |
