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UT freshman ignores injuries, goes 3-for-3 to lead Vols, 6-2
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He has a serious tape job on the torn ligament in his left thumb.
He has a tweaked hamstring muscle in his right leg.
Nothing, however, is slowing down University of Tennessee center fielder Kentrail Davis.
The freshman went 3-for-3 with two RBIs in the Vols’ 6-2 victory over Eastern Michigan on Friday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
“I just got a lot of really good pitches to hit and I’m staying focused,” Davis said. “It has been tough with the injuries, but that just kind of makes me concentrate even harder.”
Whatever he’s doing, it’s working.
The Alabama native is hitting a team-best .417 with seven RBIs, two behind team leader Cody Brown.
P.J. Polk, another freshman from Murfreesboro Oakland, chipped in a 1-for-3 day and scored three runs.
“Kentrail has been playing through some injuries and the young guys are doing a great job,” UT coach Todd Raleigh said. “It’s still going to take some time. They’re only nine games into their college careers and it’s going to be up-and-down.”
In total, Vol newcomers accounted for six of eight hits and five of the six runs scored.
Tennessee (5-4) managed to snap a three-game losing streak as sophomore transfer Steve Crnkovich improved his record to 3-0. He allowed four hits in seven innings, including two solo home runs by Michael Boyd and Aarron Powell for the 0-11 Eagles.
“We had Crnkovich going today and he did an unbelievable job again,” Raleigh said. “He has given us three quality starts.”
Aaron Everett worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Ryne Simpson struck out two in the ninth to go with a walk and hit batter.
The Vols struck with two runs in the first as Davis hit a hard grounder to right to score Andy Simunic and Polk scored on a Brown sacrifice fly.
After Polk led off the third with a double, Davis came through again with a line drive RBI single to center.
UT made it 4-1 in the fifth when Polk reached on an error, Davis laced a single to right and Polk scored all the way from second after tagging up on a deep Brown sacrifice fly to center.
Count Crnkovich among the fans of Tennessee’s freshman class.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s exciting to see because — it’s not only good for right now — but they’re only going to get better.
“It’s great to seem them progressing so quickly and helping out the ball club.”
UT takes on Eastern Michigan again at 2 p.m. today.
Notebook: UT veterans Yan Gomes, Jeff Lockwood and Danny Lima were again absent from the lineup. ... Seven baserunners (four for Eastern Michigan, three for UT) were picked off or thrown out stealing. ... The Vols didn’t commit an error for only the second time this season. ... UT broke out some brand-new home uniforms. The white jerseys featured orange piping up the side with Vols in script across the front.
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Posted by Tbaseballfan on March 8, 2008 at 7:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Who in the hell is the ATHLETIC DIRECTOR at UT?
Is it Ok for "big ego" Todd Raleigh to set the ALL AMERICANS for the last few games?
Coach of the Year....yeah right!!!!
Posted by Beasty72 on March 8, 2008 at 9:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Who are these great all-americans you are talking about? I think you are using the term very loosely.The players he benched are not pulling their weight and he is letting them know if you dont play well then you sit.
Posted by Chrisoda751 on March 8, 2008 at 9:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Tbaseballfan, have you considered that the ones with the "big ego" are the All Americans? Raleigh is the coach now and if he thinks they aren't giving their all, he has the right to "sit" them. This is Raleigh's first year and maybe he is just sending a message. I don't know what goes on in the locker room but for now, I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to Coach Raleigh.
Posted by BigOrangeJeff on March 8, 2008 at 12:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Excellent!!! Now we have Hall of Fame baseball coaches contributing to the message board.
All you haters out there, if you can do better, why don't you get yourselves hired to replace Raleigh, Fulmer, Summitt, and - as soon as he loses two in a row - Pearl?
BOJ
Posted by bbfan on March 8, 2008 at 2 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Are you kidding me....This guy RALEIGH is sending the message alright...DO NOT COME TO UT!! He is an IDIOT and the Athletic Director should be FIRED!! If you knew anything about baseball BEASTY and CRISODA you would know who the All Americans are. If you knew GOMES you would know that this is not a guy who walks around with an EGO. He knows how good he is but he is not one to walk around telling you about it. He is a quiet guy. And BEASTY how are they suppose to pull their weight on the bench? Are you kidding me. You do not sit Yan Gomes and you certainly do not throw your players under the bus like the idiot Raleigh did when he named Gomes and Lima as not performing up to par in the newspaper. Give me a break it is way to soon in the season to do that. Yep as a player him doing that so early in the season makes me want to play for him. Yep he instills confidence in his players. Tell me again where has RALEIGH been coaching?? He keeps touting the freshman who are replacing them as doing so great..Can I ask who have they played? Furman who...Eastern Michigan who lets get real..not to take anything away from the new guys but when we get to SEC that is when you see what they are all about. He praises yesterdays pitcher are you kidding me Eastern Michigan is AWFUL and to praise our hitting against them says how stupid RALEIGH is does he not know what Eastern Michigans total pitching ERA is...The one thing that I know is that GOMES AND LIMA made a big mistake by staying at UT both thought about leaving and both were encouraged to leave when RALEIGH took over this should be a lesson to all players when a new guy takes over. You better think twice about staying because you have no history with the new guy..you have no relationship with him and he has no LOYALTY to you. I feel sorry for the PLAYERS. It is so sad that RALEIGH is led by his EGO. AGAIN LET ME SAY CLEARLY......RALEIGH IS AN IDIOT AND PLAYERS SHOULD BE WARNED ABOUT THAT IF THEY THINK ABOUT PLAYING AT UT UNDER HIM
Posted by VO on March 8, 2008 at 7:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The team has over 30 games left. Sitting these "all-americans"??, which they aren't, but anyhow, won't hurt them for a couple of games. Heck, THEY WON!! Look at thier stats this year and last, they aren't producing "all-american" numbers. Raleigh is giving his freshman a chance to show what they have early, and looks to me so far its working. I don't know what is said in the locker room, but this could only open the "all-americans" eyes and make them work harder to show raleigh they DESERVE to play. Competition within a team is the best thing a team can have, just ask your top ranked basketball vols.
Posted by loudonloudmouth on March 8, 2008 at 11:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What is so hard to understand that the All Americans have not produced with some 20 plus at bats. Lockwood & Gomes have combinded at bats of nearly 40 and have 3 hits combined. The Freshman guys totals are much, much more productive and getting the job done. So far as Lima, he's about .187 with 4 hits and 20 plus at bats and continues to make errors both recorded and mental. The Grisham kid is much better fundamentaly and puts the ball in play at every at bat. You wanna win, play your best producers and fielders to keep the errors down.
Posted by Beasty72 on March 9, 2008 at 8:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I know Gomes and Lockwood were freshman all-americans but there is a big difference between a freshman all-american and a real all-american.Those two are not so good that they can play as badly as they have and still expect to keep their jobs.I bet when they get back on the field that they are putting their all into making sure they stay on the field.
Posted by Tbaseballfan on March 9, 2008 at 9:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow, i must be watching different games, because i have not seen them on the field enough to even try to make a difference.
I guess im also reading stats wrong, last year stats seem to be pretty strong for the two. This year so far looks like the batting average for most of the players are pretty bad. By the way who is the hitting coach?
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