STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

More Baseball

• Ex-Vols set pace through minor leagues
• 16 newcomers complete first week
• UT baseball schedule announced

Share and Enjoy [?]

Get Reprints

Want to use this article? Click here for options!

The two roommates didn't have to argue over whose home run went farther.

There also wasn't much of an argument over who the MVP should be in Tennessee's 5-3 baseball victory against Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday.

Cody Brown hit the bomb, but his roommate Jeff Lockwood was the star of this one.

An early season slump appears to be waning for the former Halls High School star.

Lockwood went 2-for-4, including a solo home run in the sixth inning to give UT a 3-2 lead.

"It's a good feeling," the sophomore first baseman/pitcher said. "It had been awhile and I kind of missed it."

Lockwood also shone on the mound, making a rare two appearances in a single game, and striking out three in 12<0x2044>3 innings for a save.

The difference in Lockwood didn't get past Brown.

"It's good to see him going back to being dumb," joked Brown, the former Farragut standout. "That's the best way I can describe it. He just goes out there and doesn't think and does what he's supposed to do.

"You could just tell today that he had a lot more confidence at the plate and that's what we need."

The Vols (8-4) won their fourth game in a row despite being outhit 7-6 by the Blue Raiders (8-3-1).

"I thought that was our best game of the year," first-year UT coach Todd Raleigh said. "Actually, I thought we played better today than we did against Texas.

"We had a lot of good ABs today. I know I keep saying that, but we hit a lot of hard balls today right at them and had a couple of solo home runs."

Sophomore catcher Yan Gomes, another veteran fighting his way out of a slump, got UT started with a two-run double in the bottom of the first.

MTSU scratched across a run in the third off junior transfer starter Ty'Relle Harris with the help of two wild pitches and passed ball. The Blue Raiders then made it 2-2 in the sixth, thanks to a couple of walks and an RBI single by Tyler Burnett.

That's when the Lockwood show really started.

He took an MTSU pitch the opposite way to left that was just out of the reach of left fielder and former South-Doyle standout Bryce Brentz.

"That was huge," Lockwood said. "I was in a bad slump for a while. Last weekend I got two hits and started feeling a lot better at the plate.

"I didn't really hit it that well, but it got up in the wind and had just enough to get out. It's a big relief."

Freshman Josh Liles followed the Lockwood hit with a double and eventually scored on an Andy Simunic fielder's choice.

Brown made it 5-2 when he led off the seventh with a monstrous shot out of the stadium in left.

"I'm not going to lie," Brown said, "that one felt pretty good."

Notebook: There were nine pitching changes in the game. Danny Wiltz (2-0) got the victory in relief. ... Brentz went 0-for-1 with three walks and a run for MTSU. ... Harris looked strong in his second appearance on the mound for the Vols, going five innings and giving up one run on three hits. ... The Vols return to action 3 p.m. today at home against Presbyterian.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.