University of Tennessee Athletics
UT SOFTBALL COMPLETES HOME SCHEDULE WITH MARSHALL TWIN BILL
April 26, 2005 | Softball
April 26, 2005
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee softball team (48-11, 14-8 Southeastern Conference) will play their final two home games of the regular season on Wednesday, taking on Marshall (30-15, 15-3 Mid-American Conference) in a 2 p.m. doubleheader.
Tennessee is coming off a weekend in which the Lady Vols fell to SEC-leader and Eastern Division champion Georgia in two-of-three meetings (4-1 loss, 3-1 win and 9-6 setback). Marshall swept Ball State in a road twin bill on Monday, 2-1 and 7-4, to jump ahead of Central Michigan for the overall lead in the MAC standings.
"Marshall has had a very successful season to date," Co-Head Coach Ralph Weekly said. "They're leading the MAC with a 15-3 record and will be a very formidable opponent. They have several hitters that can really challenge you and a lot of team speed."
Tennessee has taken two-of-three meetings all-time, all of them in Knoxville. The Lady Vols prevailed, 9-2, in the first meeting on March 1, 1997, but Marshall rebounded for a 3-2 victory the next day. On Feb. 28, 1998, the Big Orange out-scored the Thundering Herd, 7-2.
The Lady Vols are currently threatening to break some long-standing UT season records. First off, the Big Orange's sterling 48-11 mark not only places Tennessee nine wins from breaking the school mark set by last season's squad's 55-16 record but UT's .814 winning percentage is also on pace to set a school standard. The current mark of .794 is held by the 1996 squad (54-14).
Tennessee leads the SEC in all three major statistical categories: batting average (.335), earned run average (0.91) and fielding percentage (.983). The batting average is the second-highest in school history (first is the .366 average recorded by the 1996 team), the ERA would shatter the previous UT standard (1.22 by the 1997 squad) and the fielding percentage is just off NCAA-record pace. The 1985 Texas A&M squad holds the mark with a .984 percentage.
When compared to last season's 55-16 team, this year's squad matches up positively. In the 59 games played so far, the 2005 version has more than twice as many stolen bases (111 vs. 50) along with a higher total of runs (328 vs. 309) and RBI (298 vs. 275). In the circle, the Big Orange have allowed significantly fewer runs (65 vs. 125, ratio difference of 1.1 vs. 1.8) and hits (189 vs. 281, ratio difference of 3.2 vs. 4.0).
The Big Orange returns to SEC play with a three-game set at Ole Miss (26-25, 6-17 SEC) this weekend. The squads play a twin-bill at 3 p.m. CDT on Saturday before completing the series with a 1 p.m. CDT contest on Sunday.
