Raleigh, Vols turn attention to midweek games

Thanks to Sunday’s snow, Tennessee’s baseball team will have to wait until Tuesday to get over Saturday’s late-inning meltdown.

The Vols’ third game against No. 25-ranked Oregon State, scheduled for Sunday, was cancelled because of ice and snow on the outfield.

UT (1-1) won Friday’s game 5-4 with a two-run rally in the ninth. Oregon State (1-1) broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run eighth inning and rolled to a 14-4 victory Saturday.

“We are disappointed,” UT coach Todd Raleigh said after Sunday’s game was called. “We really wanted to come back from (Saturday). We played seven really good innings and didn’t finish it with two good innings.”

Right-hander Stephen McCray, a transfer from Young Harris (Ga.) College and Sunday’s scheduled starter, will get the start Tuesday at 3 p.m. against Austin Peay at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Two of the Vols’ top relievers, Jeff Lockwood and Danny Wiltz, were expected to pitch Sunday and could get on the mound against the Governors.

“I would have liked to have pitched Jeff Lockwood and Danny Wiltz this weekend,” Raleigh said. “If I had known we’d get snowed out (Sunday), I would have thrown them (Saturday) when it was 4-4 in the eighth. I’m a little disappointed in that but I wasn’t looking to this game being cancelled.

“Other than that, I thought we played well,” Raleigh said. “We played a great team that pitched well, and I think early in the year, (combined with the) weather, pitching is always a little bit ahead of the hitting. I thought we battled really well both days.”

Raleigh met with the team Sunday and stressed the importance of improving on last season’s midweek performances.

The Vols lost midweek road games to Lipscomb, Tennessee Tech, East Tennessee State and Middle Tennessee, and lost midweek home games to ETSU, Western Carolina and Belmont.

“We played well this weekend for 16 of the 18 innings, but we’ve got to learn how to win in the middle of the week here at Tennessee,” Raleigh said. “Tuesday’s a big game for us. (Austin Peay is) usually pretty good and we’ve got a bull’s-eye on our back. People want to beat the University of Tennessee. We addressed it a lot in the offseason and preseason. We’ll see how we respond Tuesday.”