University of Tennessee Athletics
UT Faces Big 12 Trio at Houston Classic
February 27, 2008 | Baseball
Houston Collegiate Classic Notes
The Tennessee baseball team departs Thursday for its first road trip under new head coach Todd Raleigh. The Volunteers travel to Houston for the Houston College Classic, presented by the Houston Chronicle. One of the premier early-season tournaments in college baseball, the six-team event takes place at Minute Maid Park, home of MLB???s Houston Astros.
Off to a 3-1 start this season, Tennessee faces a trio of Big 12 opponents this weekend in Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma. Friday???s game against third-ranked Texas begins at 7 p.m. CT. The Vols take on Texas Tech Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT before facing Oklahoma Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.
Tennessee???s first two games at the Houston College Classic will be broadcast in the Knoxville area on WNML The SportsAnimal (AM 990, FM 99.1 & 99.3). Free audio webcasts of those two contests also can be accessed online at UTsports.com.
Friday???s game marks the first-ever meeting between the Tennessee and Texas programs. Similarly, UT has never faced Texas Tech on the diamond.
The Vols??? only previous meeting with Oklahoma came in the 1951 national championship game at the College World Series, which the Sooners won by a score of 3-2 on June 17, 1951, in Omaha, Neb.
Tennessee pitching coach Fred Corral served as Oklahoma???s pitching coach for the last three seasons before his hiring at Tennessee this past summer. The position Corral vacated at Oklahoma was filled by Mike Bell, who worked as the pitching coach at Tennessee from 2005-07. Both coaches boast a strong familiarity with their former teams.
First-year UT head coach Todd Raleigh is 2-0 in his career against current members of the Big 12, with a pair of victories over Oklahoma State to his credit.
Additional teams in this year???s tournament field include Houston and Rice.
Pitching matchups this weekend feature UT right-hander Steve Crnkovich (1-0, 0.00 ERA) Friday against Texas lefty Austin Wood (1-0, 3.00 ERA). Left-hander Nick Hernandez (0-0, 1.23 ERA) will pitch for the Vols Saturday against Texas Tech right-hander Nate Karns (0-0, 6.75 ERA). And left-hander Bryan Morgado (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is set to start Sunday opposite Oklahoma right-hander Michael Rocha (0-0, 3.60 ERA).
The Vols participated in this tournament in 2005, dropping back-to-back games against Texas A&M and Baylor before defeating Oklahoma State. Those are the only games the UT baseball program has ever played in the city of Houston.
VIDEO WEBCASTS OF HOUSTON COLLEGE CLASSIC GAMES AVAILABLE THROUGH MLB.TV
For the second consecutive year, MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, will be providing college baseball fans with exclusive live broadcasts of each of the nine games from the prestigious Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park.??
Fans that can???t make it to the Astros??? home ballpark this weekend to support their university will have full access to the entire tournament with a MLB.TV subscription. A monthly subscription to MLB.TV costs $14.95. The video feeds will be accompanied by the play-by-play radio call of one of the participating teams in each game.
For more information, or to purchase a monthly or annual subscription, visit: www.mlb.tv
