University of Tennessee Athletics
Morgado and Davis lead UT over Tide 13-5
April 12, 2008 | Baseball
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KNOXVILLE ??? Tennessee pitcher Bryan Morgado struck out 10 and SEC Freshman of the Year candidate Kentrail Davis turned in his third multi-homer effort of the season Saturday as the Volunteers baseball team evened its weekend series with Alabama with a convincing 13-5 win at Robert M. Lindsay Field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Morgado allowed just one run on five hits through seven strong innings while helping Tennessee improve to 21-13 (8-6 SEC) on the year. The Miami, Fla., native boosted his record to 4-2 while lowering his overall season ERA to 3.04 in the process. Morgado has 67 Ks through 50 1/3 innings this year to rank among the nation???s leaders in strikeouts.
Davis, meanwhile, belted his seventh and eighth homers of the season as part of a three-run, four-RBI night. The Theodore, Ala., native leads the Vols this season in batting average (.369), hits (45), homers (eight), RBI (33), slugging (.615) and on-base percentage (.473).
Alabama won the first game of Saturday???s doubleheader by a score of 11-10. The series will be decided Sunday beginning at 2 p.m.
???We???ve been swinging the bats well for the last couple weeks now,??? Raleigh said. ???It???s unfortunate that in the first game we scored 10 and lost.
???Kentrail had a good game (in the day???s second contest). He just comes out and does it. Being from Alabama, he probably had a little more incentive.???
Tennessee infielders Jeff Lockwood and Cody Brown combined to drive in three first-inning runs to give the Vols an early lead in game two Saturday. Lockwood plated leadoff man Kentrail Davis with an RBI groundout, and Brown then drove in designated hitter P.J. Polk with an RBI double off the wall in right-center.
Alabama (20-16, 6-8 SEC) loaded the bases with one out in the top of the second inning, setting the stage for an odd turn of events that resulted in an inning-ending double play. Tide catcher Mike Sharp sent a flyball into right field, and Brandon May tagged up at third and attempted to score on the play. Vols right fielder Josh Liles fired a perfect throw to catcher Yan Gomes, who attempted to tag a sliding May at the plate.
Home-plate umpire A.J. Lostaglio initially signaled May safe on the play. And seconds later, Gomes???weaving his way through a maze of high-fiving Alabama players???chased May into the Tide dugout and applied a tag. Lostaglio watched from the home-plate area and called May out to end the inning and evoke hearty cheers from the Big Orange faithful.
Tide right fielder Kent Matthes put Alabama on the board in the fourth when he scored from third on a wild pitch by Morgado.
Davis smashed a 1-0 offering from Alabama starting pitcher Robert Phares over the right-field scoreboard in the fifth to restore UT???s two-run lead. The longball gave Davis seven homers on the year to tie senior Shawn Griffin for the team lead. That tie would be short-lived.
The Vols used a walk, a single and a hit batsman to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth. Gomes then ripped a two-run single to extend UT???s lead to four runs, and second baseman Andy Simunic later added an RBI basehit to spot the Big Orange a 6-1 lead.
Tennessee shortstop Danny Lima kept the Vols??? big sixth-inning rolling with an RBI single through the left side of the Tide infield. An error in the Alabama outfield on the play enabled a pair of UT runners to move into scoring position, setting the stage for Davis??? three-run job.
Matthes added a solo home run for Alabama in the eighth, and the Tide loaded the bases with one out later in the inning. Raleigh then called senior reliever Zane Stone out of the bullpen, and the Chattanooga, Tenn., native struck out both batters he faced to stifle the Tide rally.
The Vols tacked on three final runs in the eighth via a wild pitch, an RBI sacrifice fly by Griffin and a pinch-hit RBI single by Jarred Frazier.
Stone remained on the hill to work the top of the ninth. And although the Tide managed three runs in the frame, Stone???s 1 2/3 innings of action yielded a career-high-tying three strikeouts.
Stone???s mother, Sheila Stone, threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the game. A cancer survivor, Sheila also took part in the team???s ???UT Lights the Night??? event following the game. In conjunction with the team???s ongoing relationship with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Vols led a postgame walk around the stadium to help raise awareness about blood cancers.
???It was pretty cool, wasn???t it,??? Raleigh said of Zane Stone???s inspiring performance with his mother on hand. ???To come in with bases loaded and strike two guys out ??? I thought that was awesome. We didn???t plan it that way, but it worked out nice.???
Saturday also marked the 25th anniversary of the death of Raleigh???s oldest brother, John Raleigh III, who passed away in 1983 after a battle with Hodgkin???s disease.
