University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Baseball Weekly Update (5/14)
May 14, 2012 | Baseball
May 14, 2012
Overall Record: 24-27, 8-19 SECRecord Last Week: 1-3
| 6 pm CT
Murfreesboro
6 pm ET
Knoxville
6 pm ET
Knoxville
4 pm ET
Knoxville
Senior
1B/DH - 6-1 - 225
Overland Park, Kansas
Weekly Stats:.333, .533 SLG, .353 OBP, 15 AB, 1 R, 5 H, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 SF
Season Stats:.287, .370 SLG, .342 OBP, 165 AB, 47 H, 16 R, 8 2B, 2 HR, 19 RBIs, 8 BB, 8 HBP, 23 K, 3 SF, 3-6 SB-ATT
Notes: Davis Morgan led the Vols with five hits and four RBIs in four games last week, hitting at a .333 clip.
With a hit in each contest, the Overland Park, Kansas, native has now extended his current hitting streak to a career-long 10 games, which also marks the longest by a Vol this season. During that stretch, he is hitting .308 (12-for-39) with six runs scored, three doubles, a home run and five RBIs.
Last Wednesday, Morgan led Tennessee to the program's first win in Memphis as he notched a career-high four RBIs in an 8-7 victory at FedEx Park over the Tigers. He launched a three-run home run in that contest, his second longball of the year and just UT's third three-run shot of the season, first since Feb. 18 against Northern Illinois.
In SEC play, Morgan holds a team-high .301 batting average with six doubles and nine RBIs. For the season, he is hitting .285, good for second on the squad.
Tennessee opened the week on a high note, recording the program's first win in Memphis over the in-state rival Tigers, but went on to drop three hard-fought contests against No. 24 Ole Miss over the weekend to fall to 24-27 overall and 8-19 in SEC action.
In the win at Memphis, Davis Morgan led the way driving in a career-high four runs, including three on one swing as he hit UT's first three-run home run since Feb. 18. Drew Steckenrider added a solo home run as well, his team-leading sixth of the season, while before combining with Conner Stevens and Dalton Saberhagen to throw 4.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to make a one-run lead stand up as the Vols went on to win 8-7 at FedEx Park.
After a visit to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis on Thursday, Tennessee traveled to Oxford, Miss., where it turned the ball back over to Saberhagen on Friday night against No. 24 Ole Miss. He delivered the club's first complete game in over a year, but it wasn't enough as the Rebels squeaked out a 4-2 win in the series opener.
In Saturday's showdown, the Big Orange used six strong innings from Nick Williams and a ninth-inning home run by Ethan Bennett to take a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth only to see the Rebels get a game-tying pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth and a three-run walk-off shot in the 11th inning to win 7-4.
The series finale was a soggy one played in drizzling rain all afternoon on Sunday. Three UT freshmen limited Ole Miss to just six hits but the Orange and White managed just four of its own in another 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Rebels.
With five hits in four games this week, senior Zach Osborne continued to make his way up the charts in the Tennessee record book. The Louisville, Ky., product has now played in 212 games, placing him third all-time behind only Ed Lewis (217 - 1993-96) and Michael Rivera (219 - 2003-06). He also increased his career hits total to 222, jumping him past Jeff Christensen (1998-2001) for 10th in school history. Osborne now stands just one hit behind Julio Borbon (2005-07) for ninth.
Tennessee will finish off its five-game, eight-day road trip in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on Tuesday when it takes on MTSU at 6 p.m. CT. The Vols will then return to Rocky Top to close out the season with a three-game set against Arkansas, May 17-19 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch for that series is set for 6 p.m. ET on both Thursday and Friday before a 4 p.m. start on Saturday.
If the Vols can average 2,225 fans over their final three home games, they will break the school record for total regular-season home attendance set in 1997 with a mark of 64,107.
For the most up-to-date information on Volunteer baseball, visit www.UTSports.com/baseball and follow @Vol_Baseball on Twitter.
