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Vols come together, 12-9
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STARKVILLE, Miss. - Soon after Tennessee lost Friday night, drawing coach Todd Raleigh's ire, the Vols met and came up with a simple, but oh-so-meaningful maxim by which to live.
"We knew that today was a big game," UT shortstop Cody Grisham said. "We knew the season was coming to an end and every game's important now."
Against Mississippi State Saturday, that's just how Tennessee played.
The Vols scored two runs on back-to-back solo home runs in the first inning, then broke the game open with a seven-run seventh to take a 12-9 win over the Bulldogs in front of an announced crowd of 2,042 at Dudy Noble Field.
Tennessee (25-18, 11-9 SEC) evened the three-game series against the Bulldogs (17-26, 5-15) at a game apiece. Today's final game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. EDT, but rain is in the forecast. According to SEC rules, if today's game is delayed, it can't start any later than 5.
Raleigh wanted to play two games Saturday to avoid the rain, but MSU coach Ron Polk wouldn't agree to it, citing a thin bullpen.
Weather-plagued series are nothing new to these two clubs, who haven't played a full three-game set since 2004.
UT jumped on starter Ricky Bowen (2-5) from the get-go Saturday with first inning solo shots from Josh Liles and Kentrail Davis. The Vols added three more runs in the second to take a 5-0 lead, but State rallied for a pair on a fielding error in the second to close to 5-2.
Tennessee starter Bryan Morgado (5-2) settled in, allowing just a solo home run to Tyler Moore in the fourth. He earned the win after allowing three runs, two of them earned, and four hits over six innings.
A combination of MSU pitching miscues and UT hitting broke the game open in the seventh. The Vols batted around and scored seven runs on five hits, the most damaging being a three-run double from Cody Brown.
The first run came when Bowen walked in Grisham - a fourth ball call so grievous to Polk that he sprinted from the home dugout to argue and was quickly ejected.
State rallied to score five in the seventh and one in the eighth, but Tennessee's big seventh inning was too much to overcome. MSU's 26th loss set the record for most losses in school history.
Polk, who is retiring at the end of the season, was apparently still so steamed at the umpiring that he sent assistant Tommy Raffo to meet with reporters after the game.
Raleigh, meanwhile, was in a much better mood than after Friday's 4-3 loss in 12 innings.
"We were ready to play early here," Raleigh said.
In front of his parents in the stands, Grisham, from nearby Booneville, Miss., had a career high three hits.
UT got at least one hit from every spot in the lineup but one after Raleigh tweaked Tennessee's lineup from the one that lost a night earlier.
Shawn Griffin, who has a team-best 11 home runs, wasn't in the lineup after throwing a bat after an at-bat in extra innings Friday.
"We're not going to do that here," Raleigh said. "The wheels aren't going to come off if we're frustrated. We're trying to represent Tennessee and that's not what we're going to do."
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Posted by tsp4tnvols on April 26, 2008 at 10:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
have a ? for all the VOL fans? Why did our crazy AD fire coach Del? seems to me that coach Raleigh is no better, i think he is worse than Coach DEL!!!
Posted by yemmusdarb on April 26, 2008 at 10:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
who cares, it's baseball. we can't be great in every sport... and i'd much rather have basketball, football, and track be the money-maker sports. baseball is going downhill in general. it's pretty much a joke.
Posted by forkball on April 26, 2008 at 11:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Kudos to Coach Raleigh for sitting the bat thrower, I like the message it sends. Saw a player for Lipscomb University spike his helment after grounding out with the bases loaded tonight and it just looks so bush. Raleigh will be successful at Tennessee.
Posted by GrandCanyonVol on April 26, 2008 at 11:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mark it down. Raleigh will be successful at Tennessee. He has a good feel for the game and knows what he is doing. Just hang in there with him. The wins will come. Another good hire by the H- man.
Posted by bhjohnso on April 27, 2008 at 1:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
coach raleigh is above .500 in the league with a team that was thought by most to be 6th in the East...somehow some way they're winning games. have to hand it to them and the coach.
Posted by D_in_Iraq on April 27, 2008 at 11:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
tsp4TNVols; Your joking right? You can't be serious: We lose our top Catcher, OF, SS, and a couple of recruits, the Vols are picked to finish last in the East, and predicted to have a losing record... Yet they have a winning record, both overall and in the conference, will probably go to the tourney, and have MANY young players starting. Looks to me like the Coaches discipline and coaching abilities are shining bright, and much better then the previous seasoned coach that was loaded with major league prospects and not even making out of the Conference... Not sure what you are complaining about, and the future is looking bright from what I can see.
Posted by tsp4tnvols on April 27, 2008 at 8:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To D_n_Iraq, we would have keep the SS if his dad doesnt get fired!!! We live in East Tn.,and getting beat by ETSU sucks!! I am not saying i dont like the new coach, seems we are in the place we were as the last coach.Guess coach Pearl has raised the bar>LOL
Posted by UT_Thread_Head on April 28, 2008 at 6:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
i post this with the privilege of hindsight..
GAME 3.."Raleigh was ejected in the sixth after home plate umpire Todd Henderson called out batter Kentrail Davis for touching home plate while hitting the ball. Raleigh piled dirt on home plate on his way to the dugout." kind of ironic don't you think? how did he put it, "We're not going to do that here," Raleigh said. "The wheels aren't going to come off if we're frustrated. We're trying to represent Tennessee and that's not what we're going to do."
don't get me wrong, when coach raleigh walked no to the job there were preset conceptions of who the starters were, and who and what the team was built around..no one's without faults and the coach is to be commended for their wins and not just condemned for their losses..only time will tell if he truly has ORANGE in his veins.
GO VOLS!
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