University of Tennessee Athletics
Game Notes: ETSU
April 23, 2008 | Baseball
Game Notes (PDF)
VOLS AT A GLANCE
Tennessee (24-16, 10-8 SEC) sits in a tie for fourth place in the overall Southeastern Conference standings (also tied for fourth in the Eastern Division) despite being picked to finish last in the league ... The Big Orange own a 19-4 home record and have won each of their last six home non-conference games ... UT???s starting pitching has fashioned a 4.53 ERA, while the bullpen owns a 5.28 ERA with an 11-7 record and nine saves ... The Vols are tied for 15th among NCAA Division I teams with 41 double plays on the year ... UT is 4-3 this season in televised games and 5-1 in extra-inning games.
STREAKIN???
Sophomore catcher Yan Gomes is the current clubhouse leader with a 12-game hit streak.
It is the longest hit streak by a Vol this year. The sophomore???s streak started on April 5, and he is 21-for-48 (.438) during that span.
AWESOME APRIL ARSENAL
Of Tennessee???s 41 home runs this season, more than half (23) have come during the month of April. Senior outfielder Shawn Griffin leads the charge with six homers this month, followed by freshmen Kentrail Davis and Josh Liles (4 each), sophomore Jeff Lockwood (3) and junior Cody Brown and sophomore Yan Gomes (2 each).
As a team, the Vols are hitting .333 this month while averaging 12.0 hits and 8.3 runs per game.
CLEARING THE BASEPATHS
One of the less-talked-about aspects of Tennessee???s success this season has been its ability to stifle its opponents??? running game. UT catchers Yan Gomes and Blake Forsythe have excelled at extinguishing potential base-stealers, allowing just 37 steals in 66 attempts (56.1 percent). Forsythe has thrown out 11 baserunners to rank third in the SEC, while Gomes has thrown out eight to rank tied for sixth in the league.
The Vols also have picked off four opposing baserunners on the year.
STEPPING IT UP A NOTCH IN SEC PLAY
Through the games of April 21, Tennessee was the only team in the Southeastern Conference that had a higher team batting average in SEC games than in its overall schedule.
The Vols were hitting .295 overall but boasted a .296 average in league games. Tennessee???s 24 home runs in SEC play tied for the second-most in the conference (trailing only South Carolina with 27).
