University of Tennessee Athletics
Bats Come Alive as Orange beats White 12-7
October 07, 2007 | Baseball
Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
Despite being out-hit in a slugfest that featured 21 hits???including 11 for extra-bases???the Orange Team managed to post a 12-7 win Sunday and even the inaugural Tennessee Baseball Orange & White World Series at one game apiece. The conditions on the field felt more like June than October, as temperatures reached into the low 90s and the sun beat down relentlessly at Robert M. Lindsay Field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Vols pitching coach Fred Corral, serving as the Orange Team head coach throughout the World Series, was pleased to see the way his club performed after being no-hit in Friday???s opening game.
???Our guys didn???t stop competing, and they came up with some timely hits at the end,??? Corral said.
The Orange Team emerged victorious from the offensive showdown thanks to a nine-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth inning. Entering that frame, the White Team held a 5-3 lead, with senior outfielder Shawn Griffin boasting a 3-for-3 mark at the plate to that point with one RBI and three runs scored. Sophomore catcher Michael Moore also drove in a pair of the White Team???s early runs.
???I thought I swung the bat well in my first two at-bats,??? Moore said. ???We had a couple of runners in scoring position early on, and I just did the job and pounded the ball into the ground.???
Moore also shared his thoughts on the impact that Corral has had on the Vols pitchers since his hiring in the summer.
???Our staff is a lot more aggressive than last year,??? Moore said. ???We???re throwing a lot more fastballs in. Even when we???re behind in the count we???re not afraid to throw a curveball or change-up for a strike. The pitching staff???s mentality is completely different???in a positive way.???
In the bottom of the sixth, a leadoff single by Orange catcher Blake Forsythe and an RBI double by sophomore first baseman Yan Gomes closed the gap to one run, 5-4. And after junior outfielder Ryan Jones reached first base via a hit-by-pitch, third baseman Tanner Moore drove a double to the left-centerfield gap, bringing Gomes home and tying the game at five.
After an intentional walk to sophomore reliever Jeff Lockwood, junior pinch hitter Grant Betler showed a good eye ate the plate by drawing an RBI base on balls. The 6-5 lead was the first lead of the series for the Orange Team, and the onslaught was just beginning.
Orange leadoff man P.J Polk hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, bringing home Tanner Moore. A two-run single by freshman centerfielder Kentrail Davis, an RBI triple by shortstop Danny Lima, and a two-run, opposite-field homer by Gomes completed the Orange Team???s scoring and pushed its lead to seven runs, 12-5. The Orange hit for the cycle in the bottom half of the sixth while sending 13 batters to the plate.
Orange starter Steve Crnkovich, a right-handed sophomore transfer from the University Illinois-Chicago, opened the day strong by sitting down the first two hitters in the top half of the first inning. But after back-to-back singles by Griffin and third baseman Cody Brown, game-one standout Matt Hamaker delivered again. The junior transfer from Jackson State (Tenn.) Community College, doubled down the left-field line to drive in Griffin. Michael Moore finished off the scoring in the top half of the first inning by driving home Brown with an infield single.
Polk led off the bottom half of the first inning by reaching first base safely on an infield single up the middle. Polk advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Lima, and an RBI groundout from Forsythe brought Polk home and cut the deficit in half after one complete inning of play.
The Orange Team continued its small ball execution in the bottom of the second. Junior outfielder Ryan Jones led of the inning with a single, and after successfully stealing both second and third base, Jones crossed home on an RBI groundout by sophomore outfielder Brian Bibee. That tied the game at 2-2 after two innings.
Griffin then led off the top half of the third with his second hit of the game, a single up the middle. Brown followed with a walk, and after a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Michael Moore grounded out to Lima to bring Griffin across the plate and restore the White Team???s lead. Trey Burstrom, a junior transfer from Chattanooga State, then sent a sinking line drive to centerfield that initially looked as though it might fall in for a hit, but freshman centerfielder Kentrail Davis sprinted in and made a diving catch to kill the White scoring threat and end the inning.
The top of the fourth opened with a leadoff single by senior outfielder Daniel Beasley, but Crnkovich quickly cleared the basepaths by picking off Beasley at first. The defensive excellence continued for the Orange Team two batters later when senior infielder Andy Simunic sent a one-hop shot to third baseman Tanner Moore???s left. Moore laid out to make the stop and quickly got to his feet and completed the play with a bullet across the diamond to first.
Forsythe began the home half of the fourth with a triple to the right-centerfield wall, and Gomes plated Forsythe with an RBI groundout to second base that knotted the score at 3-3.
The White Team used back-to-back triples by freshman outfielder Josh Liles and Griffin to lead off the fifth inning and push across the fourth run of the game. A throwing error later allowed Griffin to cross the dish and push the score to 5-3, setting the stage for the Orange Team???s offensive outburst one inning later.
Griffin and Hamaker each logged RBIs in the top of the seventh to bring the final score to 12-7. Griffin finished the day 4-for-4 with four runs, two triples and two RBIs.
???Shawn Griffin really swung the bat well today,??? White Team manager and UT assistant coach Bradley LeCroy said. ???But we didn???t make pitches when we needed to. If you can win a game through five innings, you should be able to win it through seven. We just have to come out and fight Wednesday.???
Crnkovich completed 4 1/3 innings for the Orange, giving up nine hits and five earned runs. He walked one and struck out three.
???Steve probably had his ???C??? game today,??? Corral said. ???His fastball was up, and he generally does a good job of keeping the ball down.???
White starter Nick Hernandez worked four complete innings, allowing three earned runs while walking a pair and striking out one.
Neither starter earned a decision, as sophomore lefty Jeff Lockwood picked up the win after sitting down the only five hitters he faced through 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief. The loss was credited to fellow southpaw Bryan Powell, who worked one complete inning and gave up five runs on three hits with one walk.
Right-handed relievers Todd Barnett and Zane Stone both worked one full inning to close things out for the White and the Orange teams, respectively. Barnett, who earned his roster spot during last month???s open campus tryouts (along with Betler) gave up four runs on four hits and issued one walk. Stone was touched for two runs on two hits while throwing the top of the seventh.
Through two World Series games, both teams??? players have combined for a .281 batting average and a 7.27 ERA.
Game three of the Orange & White World Series is set for 3 p.m. Wednesday and admission is free.
