University of Tennessee Athletics
White Team Defeats Orange Team 10-5 to Win O&W World Series
November 08, 2008 | Baseball
Nov. 8, 2008
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The White team scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally from a 5-3 deficit for a 10-5 win Friday in a rain-shortened seventh and deciding game of the Tennessee Baseball Orange & White World Series.
"They just never gave up, Adkins gave us a good starting performance and we never hit the panic button," LeCroy said. "Hornsby got a great bunt down and they did not field it and we made them pay for it.
"We performed really well in the series, we got down 2-0 and we fought back and just played hard. I think it shows Kentrail Davis always plays hard and the guys feed off that and we were lucky to win the series."
Thunderstorms in the area caused the game, played at Robert M. Lindsay Field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, to be called after the top of the eighth inning.
Friday's game marked the end of the fall season for the Volunteers.
"The team's performance during this time has been great," LeCroy said. "We feel like we are a lot better and have more competition. We have more depth on the mound, more depth position player wise. It was a good fall for all of us."
Freshman Adam Adkins pitched 3 1/3 innings in his first start of the fall season. Adkins allowed only one earned run on four hits while striking out three and walking four. Will Locante earned the win for the White team, pitching the top of the seventh. Locante faced four batters and did not allow a run or a hit.
Aaron Tullo, Bryan Morgado and Ryne Simpson also saw action out of the White bullpen.
Nick Hernandez got the start on the mound for the Orange team. The left hander threw five innings, allowing only one run on three hits. Hernandez gave way to right hander Steve Crnkovich. The junior took the loss after surrendering six runs on eight hits during his one inning of work.
In the bottom of the second inning freshman left fielder Charley Thurber gave the White an early 1-0 when he hit his second home run of the fall over the left field wall.
Catcher Blake Forsythe tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI single to right field in the top of the third inning, scoring senior Jarred Frazier who previously reached on an infield error.
The Orange team took a 2-1 advantage in the top of the fourth when Frazier drove in sophomore P.J. Polk with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right field. Polk reached base on a walk.
Knoxville native Matt Ramsey extended the Orange team's lead to 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning with a RBI single to center field. The single drove in Forsythe who walked and then stole second to put himself in scoring position. The inning continued when Polk drove in two more runs with a double down the left field line, making the score 5-1. Ramsey and Cody Grisham both scored on the play, previously reaching on a single and a walk, respectively.
In the bottom of the sixth, the White tallied a run on an infield single by Davis that scored first-year Vol Zach Osborne from third. They added one more run on another infield single off the bat of Cody Hawn. Josh Liles scored to edge the White back within two runs, 5-3.
The White team began to rally when it started off the bottom of the seventh inning with four straight singles. With the bases loaded, Andy Shuford singled to score Thurber and cut the Orange lead to one run. The White team tied the game at 5-5 when Josh Liles walked with the bases loaded to force Gary Wilson across home plate.
Davis put the White ahead 6-5 when he was hit by a pitch that drove in Mike Hornsby from third. Hawn had the biggest blow of the inning, a two-run single to right field scoring Shuford and Liles, which put the White in front 8-5. The inning continued as Davis scored on an infield error to make the scored 9-5. Hawn scored the final run of the inning and the game when Mike Hornsby was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The White team scored seven runs on five hits and sent 13 batters to the plate during the inning against three members of the Orange bullpen. Joey Rosas, Jeff Lockwood and Clayton Gant all combined to throw the seventh.
