Corral OK for setup in Houston

Things get serious for the Tennessee baseball team this weekend.

The Vols (3-1) hit the road for the first time to take on three quality opponents beginning with perennial power and No. 3-ranked Texas at 8 tonight in the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

For UT pitching coach Fred Corral, it's a chance to see some familiar competition and get reacquainted with his former team in Sunday's matchup against Oklahoma.

"It's going to be a lot of fun going down to Minute Maid Park," Corral said, "and seeing some old Big 12 opponents."

He knows them well.

Corral returned to UT after spending three years at Oklahoma. The Vols and Sooners basically traded pitching coaches with Mike Bell, who was not retained by first-year UT Todd Raleigh, landing in Oklahoma after Corral's return to Knoxville.

Corral has liked what he has seen from most of his young pitching staff this season.

Illinois-Chicago transfer Steve Crnkovich went seven innings and gave up four hits in UT's season-opening victory against Morehead State. He'll get the start tonight against the Longhorns.

Sophomore Nick Hernandez gave up three hits in 71<0x2044>3 innings of a no-decision in a 4-1 loss to Morehead. He'll start against Texas Tech on Saturday.

Junior college transfer Joey Rosas went five innings and gave up three hits in an 8-4 series-clinching victory against the Eagles.

Then came the debut of redshirt freshman lefthander Bryan Morgado, a 12-strikeout, two-hit performance in a 2-1 victory against Furman on Monday. Morgado goes against the Sooners on Sunday.

"As far as numbers, it has been very good," Corral said of his starters. "They've given our team an opportunity to win. Can we get better? Yes. Are we at our A game? No."

Corral's not going to start bragging on his overall staff until they prove it against some higher-caliber competition.

"I don't want to be overly critical of the guys, because I am somewhat happy with how they're throwing," he said. "But I'd give it a C-plus, B-minus type rating for what we're doing as a whole."

The reason for the downgrading comes from the work out of the bullpen. The relievers contributed to letting a 1-0 lead get away from Hernandez in UT's loss as junior Aaron Everett took the loss.

D.J. Leffler gave up three hits and three runs in Sunday's 8-4 win against Morehead and sophomore closer Jeff Lockwood made things dramatic with his three-walk, three-strikeout show for a save on Monday.

"Our starters are really coming out and doing the job," Corral said. "It's my bullpen that really needs to pick it up and I think they're going to. We've got some quality young man. It's just not where we want it right now."

A bigger test comes this weekend against Texas, Texas Tech (4:30 Saturday) and Oklahoma (noon Sunday).

"It's going to be an exciting time playing three of the best teams in the country," Lockwood said. "We're going to go down there and see what we're made of.

"If we take 2-of-3 or maybe sweep, we're right back in the hunt of the national rankings."

It's also a chance to get reacquainted with Bell.

"I'm excited seeing coach Bell over in Houston," Morgado said. "He's the one who recruited me here.

"I'll be going up against him, but coach Corral has done a great job with me. I really respect him and he has worked me a lot. It'll be interesting."