Tennessee's baseball team did everything to win the game Sunday - except win the game.
Top-ranked Georgia escaped with a 4-3 victory at Lindsey Nelson Stadium to complete an SEC series sweep and send the Vols deeper into the conference hole.
"That's obviously a tough one,'' said UT coach Todd Raleigh. "I thought we had it.''
Georgia (22-3, 7-2 SEC) scored all its runs in the fifth inning, after which Tennessee (11-15, 1-8 SEC) kept pecking away.
The Vols came up one peck short.
They loaded the bases in the ninth with one out. Pinch-hitter Cody Brown struck out looking, then Josh Liles struck out chasing a pitch from Dean Weaver and that was it.
"Runner on third, with one out, you've got to get in right there,'' said UT catcher Blake Forsythe, who was the runner on third.
"We haven't had that big hit all year,'' added Raleigh. "We're still waiting on it.''
All told, the Vols stranded 14, nine in scoring position.
After losses of 12-6 on Friday and 11-9 on Saturday, Tennessee won the statistical comparisons Sunday.
The Vols outhit Georgia 10-5 and played errorless ball.
First-time starter Aaron Tullo (1-3) pitched four hitless innings before finding trouble in the fifth. He was tagged with all four Georgia runs, two of them on a Joey Lewis home run.
Bryan Morgado fnished, allowing two hits and no runs.
The Vols even silenced Georgia slugger Rich Poythress, who had impersonated Babe Ruth in the first two games. His 14-game hitting streak ended in an 0-for-3 day that included grounding into a double play.
But Poythress still affected the outcome. He drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning, forcing in Georgia's fourth - and eventual winning - run.
UT got a home run from Liles in the third off winner Justin Grimm (2-1).
Forsythe singled in a run in the seventh to make it 4-2.
It was 4-3 after Liles scored in the eighth on Mike Hornsby's fielder's choice grounder. Then came controversy.
Cody Grisham hit a grounder towards second base. The ball and runner Hornsby arrived in front of second baseman Michael Demperio at about the same time.
The ball scooted past Demperio and Hornsby scampered to third.
Just as Georgia was about to protest, umpire Doug Gilmore ruled Hornsby out for interference, ending the inning.
It was Raleigh's turn to protest, to no avail.
"I don't know what (Hornsby) is supposed to do,'' Raleigh said. "If he ran out of the baseline, I'd say 'yeah,' but the umpire said he should have stopped.
"If he stops, the guy catches the ball and tags him. (Hornsby) is certainly entitled to the baseline.''
Said Hornsby, "It was a judgement call on the umpire. Nothing you can really do about it.
"I was actually about to go down and slide and (Demperio) stepped right in front of me. That's all I could do.''
"It's kind of like our season,'' added Raleigh.
The Vols' season continues Tuesday at East Tennessee State. They play host to Charleston Southern on Wednesday.
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Tennessee defeats Georgia 3-2 in…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 21
FLAVOLS writes:
I'm sure you were there supporting the Vols as always - probably the one blowing it out his a**.
Another armchair Pitcher/QB.
VAvolfanRON writes:
Wow...are we gonna upright this ship?........come on guys...find the right rotation.......and step up at the plate.......
hoping you guys turn it around
Triton1 writes:
Todd Raleigh is the man! NOT!!!!
teampenny#658108 writes:
So far not a good year for team sports by Vol standards. AD why is this a down year. How is losing effecting ticket sales. Go Vols
UT_Thread_Head writes:
CHOKE, to become too tense or nervous to perform well
that's the best description of what this team as a whole has been consistent in doing so far..come on guys we can do better than this!
Halls3 writes:
Delmonico could bring in talent & Raleigh can't. It's as simple as that. I mean it's not like Delmonico left Raleigh with nothing & now Raleigh can't get good players in there. Shouldn't have fired Delmonico and no I'm not second guessing b/c I believed Delmonico should have kept his job b/c he's a dang good coach just look what he did with a pathetic Netherlands team in the WBC.
UT_Thread_Head writes:
need too step it up...
Futurecoach16 writes:
Apparently you have not seen the recruiting class Raleigh has in line for the next season. 9 of the 12 signees as of this past December are in the top 10 of the top prospects of their respective states. And looking at the Netherlands team: how many baserunners did the Dominican leave on? As I recall they left 21 or 22 runners. No one can win with that. Dominican beat themselves.
OrangePride writes:
Wow.......another close loss! But at the end of the day, it's ANOTHER SEC loss. Now, at 1-8, we are so far in the cellar that it is hard to believe this is Tennessee baseball. The coach can continue to believe that it's bad breaks, or just a few mistakes, or we got going too late, etc. The facts are, however, we just continue to not get it done. We replaced Fulmer in mid-season, do we have to do the same thing in baseball? I think it's time to think about it.
Volunatic writes:
Is it possible that firing Delmonico was a mistake?
Volunatic writes:
The thing about baseball recruiting-- you can't depend on the "top prospects" to go to your school even if they commit to you-- they often go pro instead.
It seems pretty tough walking that thin line for a college baseball coach-- you want REALLY GOOD players to commit to your programs, but not necessarily the BEST ones since they often take the money and run.
TrouserCough writes:
There is no such thing as luck. Either you can hit with runners in scoring position or you can't. This team can't. Tired of the timely hitting mantra. Seven games under .500 in the SEC, they're done and its only the third SEC series.
Tenn_Dawg writes:
Yep....a terrible one at that. Sad to see UT baseball in this state but I understand the frustrations b/c Georgia went thru a crappy stint in the 90s.
BigRngFan_9 writes:
Raleigh has to go !!!!!!!!! Way to go "Ham" was this the best coach you could hire... Let's hope Kiff and company don't bomb as well.................
BigRngFan_9 writes:
Well said !!!!
jdcvols#230433 writes:
Fire this idiot. He is no better than the other idiot clawsen. Stupid hire and everybody on this board knew it.
tenacjim#211887 writes:
They look goofy losing too. What's up with the unis? I recall CTR saying "our colors are orange & white" and he was going to dial back the black. You have those ugly black shoulder things (70s White Sox anyone) and now this black with orange panels monstrosity...
bowlinggreenvol writes:
When you a hire a coach who's career record was 257-209 and a conference record 0f 132-101 in the poweful SoCon conference, you expect these results. With UT's recent baseball success (3 CWS in 10 years) and playing in perhaps the strongest baseball conference in the country there was no excuse for not finding someone better than CTR!
BigRngFan_9 writes:
Mr.Garner would be the perfect fit... But let's call him " Coach "......... There is already one Phil we are trying to forget... Please Mr. Hamilton pull the trigger and put this behind you and the fans of Tennessee Sports.... This is why my son laughed when Raleigh came to our front door.He signed with Miss. St..... As much as the whole family love's the orange, we just couldn't stand the fact that the baseball Vols are the worst in the SEC and one of the worst in the U.S......
utvolz#637682 writes:
Prepare to hit the bricks coach! This team and program are in a downward spiral and I don't think you can pull back on the stick enough to keep it from crashing nose first....
feathersax writes:
Delmonico left the UT baseball program with nothing. NADA!!! Pitching is very weak now, & this is a very young team in an SEC that is laden with power, talent & experience this year. I'm confident Raleigh can do the job.
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.