Tennessee Volunteers | Lindsey Nelson Stadium Media Relations: Cameron Harris u CHarri48@utk.edu u Office: (865) 974-8876 u Cell: (817) 408-7604 u Fax: (865) 974-1269 u UTSports.com
2011 SCHEDULE (15-2, 0-0)
Home: 14-2 | Away: 1-0 | Neutral: 0-0 | Vs. Top 25: 0-0 Date FEBRUARY 18 Fri. 19 Sat. 20 Sun. 25 Fri. 26 Sat. 27 Sun. MARCH 4 Fri. 5 Sat. 6 Sun. 8 Tue. 9 Wed. 11 Fri. 12 Sat. 13 Sun. 15 Tue. 16 Wed. 18 Fri. 19 Sat. 20 Sun. 23 Wed. 25 Fri. 26 Sat. 27 Sun. 30 Wed. APRIL 1 Fri. 2 Sat. 3 Sun. 5 Tue. 7 Thu. 8 Fri. 9 Sat. 12 Tue. 14 Thu. 15 Fri. 16 Sat. 20 Wed. 22 Fri. 23 Sat. 24 Sun. 26 Tue. 27 Wed. 29 Fri. 30 Sat. MAY 1 Sun. 6 Fri. 7 Sat. 8 Sun. 11 Wed. 13 Fri. 14 Sat. 15 Sun. 17 Tue. 19 Thu. 20 Fri. 21 Sat.
Opponent (TV)
Lexington, Ky. • Cliff Hagen Stadium (3,000) • March 18-19
Time/Result
Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee Canisius Canisius Canisius Bradley Indiana Morehead State New Orleans New Orleans Manhattan Manhattan Manhattan Manhattan Alabama A&M at Austin Peay *at Kentucky *at Kentucky *at Kentucky at Lipscomb *Ole Miss *Ole Miss (SS) *Ole Miss (SS) UNC Asheville
TENNESSEE (15-2, 0-0) vs. KENTUCKY (10-7. 0-0) FRIDAY, MARCH 18 -- 6:30 p.m. ET LHP Steven Gruver (3-0, 1.27) vs. RHP Alex Meyer (2-2, 2.60)
W, 4-0 W, 7-6 L, 6-9 W, 4-0 W, 6-2 W, 9-4 W, 7-3 L, 6-3 W, 10-8 W, 14-0 (7 Inn.) W, 18-4 W, 4-2 W, 11-5 W, 3-2 (7 inn.) W, 15-1 W, 9-1 W, 5-3 6:30 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 6 p.m. CT 6 p.m. 4 p.m. 2 p.m. 7 p.m.
*at Florida (CSS) 7 p.m. *at Florida (CSS) 7 p.m. *at Florida 1 p.m. Presbyterian College 7 p.m. *South Carolina (ESPNU) 7:30 p.m. *South Carolina 6 p.m. *South Carolina (SS) 2 p.m. Appalachian State 7 p.m. *at Alabama (ESPNU) 6:30 p.m. CT *at Alabama 6:30 p.m. CT *at Alabama 5 p.m. CT Western Carolina 7 p.m. *Georgia 6 p.m. *Georgia 4 p.m. *Georgia 2 p.m. MTSU 7 p.m. at Tennessee Tech 6 p.m. CT *at Vanderbilt 6 p.m. CT *at Vanderbilt (CSS) 2 p.m. CT *at Vanderbilt 1 p.m. CT *Mississippi State 6 p.m. *Mississippi State 4 p.m. *Mississippi State (SS) 2 p.m. at MTSU 6 p.m. CT *at LSU (CST) 7 p.m. CT *at LSU (CSS) 6:30 p.m. CT *at LSU 1 p.m. CT Belmont 7 p.m. *Auburn 6 p.m. *Auburn 6 p.m. *Auburn 2 p.m.
Home Games in Bold *-SEC Game 2011 Tennessee Volunteer Baseball Game Notes
SATURDAY, MARCH 19 -- 1 p.m. ET RHP Drew Steckenrider (1-0, 5.40) vs. RHP Jordan Cooper (1-0, 3.13) SUNDAY, MARCH 20 -- 1 p.m. ET TBA vs. LHP Taylor Rogers (1-1, 4.62)
WEATHER FORECAST Friday Saturday Sunday
BROADCAST INFORMATION Live Stats/Blog: www.UTSports.com Twitter: www.Twitter.com/Vol_Baseball Radio: FM 99.1/99.3 "The Sports Animal" with John Wilkerson and Roger Hoover
Few Showers 70° | 54° | 30%
Scattered T-Storms 59° | 45° | 40%
Showers 56° | 54° | 60%
NOTES AND STORYLINES uTennessee won six games in a six-day span last week and has won nine consecutive contests to mark the longest run since head coach Todd Raleigh arrived in Knoxville in 2008. Leading the way last week was senior third baseman Matt Duffy who was named the SEC Player of the Week after hitting .381 and knocking in 12 runs on the week. uThe Vols hold a 149-126 advantage over Kentucky all-time, dating back to 1915. UT claimed two of three from the Wildcats last season in Knoxville. After falling, 8-12, on Friday night, UT won the next two 8-6 and 3-1. uThe Tennessee offense currently ranks first in the SEC in almost every major offensive category with a .338 batting average, .440 on base percentage, .504 slugging pct., 186 hits and 277 total baes. uFreshman Ethan Bennett has hit four home runs in the last four games to grab the team lead. He has recorded multiple RBIs in each of his last six contest and is hitting .542 (13-for-24) with 16 RBIs and nine runs scored during that span. uThe contest with Austin Peay on Wednesday marked the Orange and White's first road game of the year, as Tennessee opened the 2011 season with 16 straight home games. That is the longest homestand for the Vols since they played 22 consecutive games in Knoxville to open the 1963 campaign. uThe Orange and White has been ultra-aggressive on the bases this season, swiping an SEC-high 44 bags in 54 attempts. That is nine more than any other team in the conference. With his league-leading 15, senior Khayyan Norfork alone has as many or more than four different SEC teams. The Vols had nine thefts alone on Feb. 27 vs. Canisius, led by three each from Matt Duffy and Andrew Toles. Khayyan Norfork also had two in that contest. uAfter recording four saves in all of 2010, the Vols already have surpassed that mark with eight saves in 17 games this year. They have come from six different pitchers no less as well (Williams, Steckenrider, Dean, Thornton, Ramseyx2 and Godleyx2). uIn UT's 18-4 win over New Orleans on March 9, Duffy became just the second player in UT history to hit for the cycle, finishing 4-for-6 with three runs scored and four RBIs. Chris Burke is the only other Vol to accomplish the rare feat, doing so against Vanderbilt on May 11, 2001. uUT Opening Day starter junior Steven Gruver has set the tone for the Vol pitching staff so far in 2011, leading the team to a pair of shutouts in his first three starts and throwing a complete game in his fourth. He opened the year with 16.2 scoreless innings, and has struck out 30 while walking just six. uHaving recently scored the 100th run of his career, senior Josh Liles is nearing two more milestones. He needs just one RBI to reach 100 in that category as well, while 36 more hits would make him the 15th player in UT history with 200 hits.
PROBABLE UT STARTERS
Avg. HR RBI Notes
C 1B 2B 3B SS LF CF RF DH
.245 .288 .492 .397 .340 .293 .333 .250 .448
28 33 8 13 2 7 1 12 21
Matt Ramsey Jr. Josh Liles Sr. Khayyan Norfork Sr. Matt Duffy Sr. Zach Osborne Jr. Chris Fritts So. Andrew Toles Fr. Charley Thurber Jr. Ethan Bennett Fr.
0 0 2 3 1 2 0 1 4
3 10 19 24 9 10 13 5 17
Has thrown out eight of 16 base runners (50.0%) this year Had five hits in doubleheader last Saturday (5-for-7) Leads the nation with a .625 on-base percentage Leads all SEC players in RBIs, third in OBP Has started 126 of 127 games at SS since arriving at UT Is 8-for-19 with 8 runs and 8 RBIs in last six games Ranks third in the SEC with nine stolen bases Has four of team's six outfield assists Has six straight multiple RBI games (16 in that span) Page 1