| Alabama (31-13) at Tennessee(25-20)
Lindsey Nelson Stadium (4,000) | Games 46-49 | | May 2-4, 2003 | | | | Lindsey Nelson Stadium (4,000) | | The Series | Overall: Alabama leads 55-23 Last Series: March 15-17, 2002 in Tuscaloosa (UA 7-3, UA 14-2, UA 7-1) | | Probable Pitchers | May 2 - 7 p.m.
UT - Ben Riley, LHP, Jr. (3-4, 3.63 ERA)
UA - Brent Carter, LHP, (7-4, 3.51 ERA) | May 3 - 7 p.m. (CSS-TV)
UT - Derek Tharpe, LHP, Jr. (4-5, 3.80 ERA)
UA - Taylor Tankersley, LHP, (6-2, 3.93 ERA) | May 4 - 2 p.m.
UT - Brandon Crowe, RHP, Jr. (3-1, 5.86 ERA)
UA - Seth Johnson, RHP (6-2, 2.93 ERA) | | Up Next | May 7 vs. Belmont at 7 p.m.
May 9-11 vs. Arkansas at 7 p.m., 7 p.m., 1 p.m. | Complete UT Release (pdf)
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Rankings
Tennessee: Not Ranked
Alabama: 22 BA / 22 ESPN / 22 NCBWA / 23 CB
UT Starting Pitcher Notes
UT Pitching Notes
UT Hitting Notes
SEC Notes THE COACHES:
Tennessee Volunteers
Rod Delmonico (Liberty 1980)
Overall Record: 14th year --543-295 (.648)
versus Alabama: 8-21
2003 Schedule/Results
2003 Statistics
Alabama Crimson Tide
Jim Wells: (Northwestern State, 1980)
Overall Record: 9th year--402-166 (.708)
versus Tennessee: 17-9
2003 Schedule
2003 Statistics |
| | | | | Alabama Crimson Tide | 23-55 | | Series Results Since 1990 | | 1990 | Knoxville | 1-2 | L | | 1991 | Tuscaloosa | 1-2 | L | | 1994 | Tuscaloosa | 3-0 | W | | 1995 | Knoxville | 1-2 | L | | 1996 | Tuscaloosa | 1-2 | L | | 1997 | Knoxville | 2-1 | W | | 1998 | Tuscaloosa | 0-3 | L | | 1999 | Knoxville | 1-2 | L | | 2000 | Tuscaloosa | 2-1 | W | | 2001 | Knoxville | 2-1 | W | | 2002 | Tuscaloosa | 0-3 | L | TENNESSEE vs. ALABAMA Tennessee and Alabama have met 78 times with the Crimson Tide holding a 55-23 series advantage since the first meeting in 1897. Alabama has won four straight over Tennessee, its longest streak since reeling of five straight wins from 1998-99. The Volunteers scored just six runs in four meetings with Alabama last year.
The Vols have won two of the last three series overall while the teams have split the last four in Knoxville. This is the 10th consecutive year Tennessee and Alabama have met on the diamond with the Tide winning 17 of the last 29 meetings.
Head coach Rod Delmonico is 14-21 against Alabama.
Tennessee at a Glance The Tennessee Volunteers (25-20, 8-13 SEC) look to snap a three-game conference losing streak when they open a seven-game home stand against the No. 22 Alabama Crimson Tide, May 2-4. Tennessee broke an overall four-game losing skid with a 14-8 win over UNC Asheville on Tuesday when it slugged a season-high four home runs. Josh Alley, Brett Chappell and Jimbo Watson each hit their first career home runs, while Javi Herrera slugged his team-leading eighth.
The Vols, who have lost six of their last seven league games, are in fourth place in the Eastern Division, 2 1/2 games behind division leader Florida and two games out of second trailing South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
Tennessee is 2-7 against Western Division teams having dropped all three series at Auburn and LSU and a home series to Ole Miss. The Vols play host to Alabama and Arkansas the next two weekends. Both teams are a combined 15-6 against Eastern Division opponents.
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 202-190 mark in league games, while ranking seventh all-time in SEC history with 544 wins (298 losses). He needs 13 victories to tie Florida's Dave Fuller (557-354-6 from 1948-75) for sixth.
The Vols are 17-7 in non-conference play this year, having won seven of their last eight. They have one remaining non-league game against Belmont on May 7 in Knoxville.
Tennessee is 5-11 on the road this year, picking up wins at The Citadel, ETSU, UNC Asheville with one each at Auburn and Kentucky. UT won two neutral site games against Old Dominion and James Madison in Charleston, S.C.
Tennessee has faced off against five top 25 teams this season, going 4-11. It swept No. 10 South Carolina, took one from No. 10 Auburn while being swept three time by No. 8 LSU, 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.
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 12 of the 25 wins have been decided by five runs or more. They have also won nine games (over 1/3 of total victories) in their final at-bat this season. They are 4-6 in one-run games and 7-10 in games decided by two runs or less. UP NEXT
Tennessee plays its final non-conference game against Belmont May 7 at 7 p.m. at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, before closing out its seven-game home stand versus Arkansas May 9-11. Game times for the Razorback series are 7 p.m., 7 p.m. and 1 p.m. VOL HITTING NOTES | | | UT CAREER STOLEN BASES | | 1. | 145 | Mike Basse | 89-91 | | 2. | 134 | Stevie Daniel | 99-01 | | 3. | 124 | Chris Burke | 99-01 | | 4. | 87 | Clay Greene | 96-97 | | 5. | 56 | Jeff Christensen | 98-01 | | 6. | 55 | Ronnie Hartsfield | 78-81 | | 7. | 53 | Bobby Gaylor | 84-86 | | 8. | 52 | Jordan Czarniecki | 02-03 | | 9. | 51 | Bill Hatfield | 73-76 | | 10. | 50 | Alex Sanmiguel | 92-93 | Tennessee raised its batting average five points from .292 to .297 after clubbing out 18 hits in a 14-8 win at UNC Asheville on Tuesday. This, after hitting .263 (26-for-99) last weekend at LSU. It managed just six extrabase hits in the series, including three home runs. Javi Herrera provided the lone highlight with a three-run inside-the-park home run in the second game.
The Vols slugged a season-high four home runs against UNC Asheville, doubling the previous high of two done seven times. They have 32 home runs this season and are on a pace to hit 39 after hitting 38 last year.
The Vols have been held to seven or fewer hits in five of the last 10 games, while scoring four or fewer runs seven times during that span.
They are batting .212 (22-for-104) with runners in scoring over the last 11 games.
Tennessee leads the SEC with 72 stolen bases. Leading the way is Jordan Czarniecki who paces the individuals with 28 in 34 attempts. He is UT's active leader with 52 and needs five more to vault into fifth place on UT's career list.
Czarniecki also ranks fourth in league in on-base percentage (.471), fifth in runs scored (47) and third in hit by pitch (14).
The Vols have amassed 28 doubles over the last 15 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. They have just six this season which would be the lowest total since hitting six in 1988.
In UT's 20 losses, they are 22-for-145 (.152) with runners in scoring position. They have scored 63 runs in those defeats, being held to two or fewer runs nine times.
They have collected at least 10 hits in 21 games and plated at least 10 runs 10 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, and had 14 runs on 18 hits at UNC Asheville 4/29.
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 | | UK | .250 | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | | LSU | .000 | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | | Total | .364 | 12-33 | 9 | 8 | VOLS GET CLUTCH HITS OFF THE BENCH
Tennessee's bench has been a productive unit thus far, as the reserves are hitting .351 with nine doubles, two triples, two home runs and 36 RBI. Vol pinch hitters are excelling as well, going 24-for-70 (.343) with 14 RBI and 18 walks. Pinch hitters have reached base safely on 44 of 91 plate appearances (48.4%).
Jimbo Watson leads all pinch hitters with nine hits and a .474 average. He has reached base safely in 13 of 23 plate appearances for a .565 on-base percentage. He hit his first home run coming off the bench at UNC Asheville 4/29, a three-run shot.
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 team ERA is 4.08, a season-high. The Vols gave up 42 runs in the LSU series, the most in a conference series (41 at Florida 1999), and eight to UNC Asheville on Tuesday, giving it 50 runs allowed over the last four games (12.5 rpg). One has to go back to the 1989 Auburn series to find the last time Tennessee gave at least 10 runs in three straight games. The Tigers won 10-0, 14-4 and 11-2.
The Vols are six in the SEC in ERA and seventh in opponent batting average at .269. They are tied for fourth in the league in fewest home runs allowed with 27. Opponents are averaging 9.3 hits and 4.9 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 7.91 strikeouts per nine innings while walking just 3.03. That's a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.6. The 1965 pitching staff holds the record of 8.91 strikeouts per nine innings.
The pitchers have posted at least 10 strikeouts in 10 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 30 times. UT's 1994 pitching staff holds the record of 3.04 walks per nine innings. The 1996 staff is second at 3.26.
The staff has not given up more than four earned runs in 27 contests. They have held the opponents to eight or fewer hits 23 times. STARTING PITCHER NOTES Ben Riley -- Is 2-2 in his last six starts after going 1-2 in his first six ... He has lost his last two starts ... Ranks second in the league in opponent batting average at .216 and fifth in innings pitched at 74.1 ... Has worked into at least the seventh inning in six of his last eight starts ... Holds a 3.52 ERA in his last seven starts, giving up three or fewer runs five times ... Has walked 20 in his last 30.2 innings with just 20 strikeouts ... Held opponents to six or fewer hits in nine of 12 starts ... Allowed three or fewer earned runs in nine of 12 starts ... Team leader in innings pitched ... Pitched at least five innings in 11 of 12 starts with a season-high 8.0 twice in win versus South Carolina 3/23 and first career complete game at Kentucky 4/18 ... 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 8-7 in 27 career starts with a 4.43 ERA ... Worked at least five innings in 22 of 27 starts ... Is 1-1 with a 5.14 ERA in April ... Is 5-5 in SEC action with a 4.80 ERA ... Vols are 6-6 in his 12 starts this season.
Last Start -- Took loss to No. 8 LSU 4/25 in the shortest start of his career ... Lasted just 2.2 innings, surrendering seven runs on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts as the Tigers won 17-4.
Versus Alabama -- Took a no decision last year, allowing three runs on seven hits in five innings while walking three and striking out two ... Alabama won the first game of the series 7-3.
Derek Tharpe -- Is 2-4 in last six starts after going 2-1 in his first six ... Has lost four of last five starts ... Is third in the SEC in strikeouts with 72 and sixth in innings pitched at 73.1 ... Roughed up for 28 runs (16 earned) on 41 hits in the last 33.1 innings for a 4.32 ERA ... Struckout 33 and walked eight during that span ... Given up three or fewer earned runs in eight of his 12 starts ... Worked at least five innings nine times, including working into at least the seventh in six of last seven ... Opponents are hitting .278 off him ... Threw his first CG of season in loss at Kentucky 4/19, matching career-high with 11 Ks ... Tossed season-high 8.1 innings in win over SC 3/22 ... Is 4-5 with a 3.15 ERA in 10 appearances against SEC opponents, covering 65.2 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 9-20 career Division I record with a 4.82 ERA ... Is 8-17 with a 4.63 ERA in 34 career starts ... Has eight complete games to his credit ... Owns a 1-3 mark with a 4.09 ERA in May ... Transfer from Samford who made 14 starts for the Bulldogs in 2002 ... Vols are 6-6 in his 12 starts this season.
Last Start -- Took loss to No. 8 LSU 4/26, giving up 10 runs (three earned) on eight hits in 4.2 innings ... Struck out four and walked three as LSU won 10-6. Brandon Crowe --Is scheduled to make his four start of the season and second straight in SEC play ... Made his first start in over two months at LSU last Sunday ... Is 1-1 in three starts this season with an 8.38 ERA in 9.2 innings ... Has not pitched past the fourth in any start ... Earned a win over Morehead State 2/9 after pitching a designated four innings ... Had made nine straight relief appearances, picking up wins in his last two outings at ETSU 4/15 and at Kentucky 4/20 ... Logged 10.1 innings in those stints, giving up just three runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk ... Second behind Dusty Johnson on UT's active wins list with 11 ... Is 6-1 in nine career starts with a 4.47 ERA ... Owns a 5-5 mark in SEC play with a 4.82 ERA ... Recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2001 ... Is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in May ... Vols are 2-1 in his three starts this season.
Last Start -- Suffered his first career loss as a starter to LSU 4/27 ... Was 6-0 in eight previous starts ... Gave up eight runs (five earned) on 10 hits in 3.2 innings as the Tigers won 15-4. SEC NOTES - The Vols are 8-13 in SEC play. The last time UT was 8-13 was in 2002.
Tennessee is 6-6 against the East (5-1 home, 1-5 away) and 2-7 versus the West (1-2 home, 1-5 away). Overall it is 6-3 at home and 2-10 on the road.
In the last five SEC series, UT is 4-11 with a 6.02 ERA in 127.0 innings, giving up 168 hits with 103 strikeouts, 58 walks while opponents hit .315. They have given up at least 10 hits in each of the last four games.
Starting pitchers are 5-7 with a 4.70 ERA, while the bullpen is 3-6 with a 5.61 ERA in 51.1 innings.
UT is batting .286 (143x500) over its last 15 games with 22 doubles and 10 HRs. It has scored 85 runs during that span, averaging 5.7 rpg. They have collected at least 10 hits in six of the last 10 games.
Tennessee has done most of its damage in the eighth inning, scoring 25 of its 115 runs in that frame
The Vols have hit just six home runs in their last 12 games after slugging seven in the first nine
The Vols have won three games in their last at-bat (3-0 and 10-6 vs. SC and 9-8 vs. UK)
UT held the lead or was tied entering the ninth inning in all three Auburn games
The Vols are 1-4 in one-run games and 2-7 in games decided by two runs or less
UT held to one or fewer hits with RISP 10 times 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. | |
