An update on Tennessee baseball

TENNESSEE BASEBALL WEEKLY UPDATE

Overall Record: 16-4, 1-2 SEC

Record Last Week: 3-2

Last Week’s Results:

Tuesday, March 15 – Tennessee 9, Alabama A&M 1 (Knoxville, Tenn.)

Wednesday, March 16 – Tennessee 5, Austin Peay 3 (Clarksville, Tenn.)

Friday, March 18 – Kentucky 5, Tennessee 3 (Lexington, Ky.)

Saturday, March 19 – Tennessee 12, Kentucky 8 (Lexington, Ky.)

Sunday, March 20 – Kentucky 7, Tennessee 3 (Lexington, Ky.)

Next Week’s Schedule

Wednesday, March 23 – Tennessee at Lipscomb – 7 p.m. ET (Nashville, Tenn.)

Friday, March 25 – Tennessee vs. Ole Miss – 6 p.m.(Knoxville, Tenn.)

Saturday, March 26 – Tennessee vs. Ole Miss – 3 p.m. (Knoxville, Tenn.) - SportSouth

Sunday, March 27 – Tennessee vs. Ole Miss – 2 p.m. (Knoxville, Tenn.) - SportSouth

Player of the Week Nomination

KHAYYAN NORFORK

Senior – 2B – 5-10 – 185 – Ripley, Tenn.

Weekly Stats: .591 Avg., 22 AB, 5 runs, 13 hits, 4 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, .909 SLG %, 2 BB, 1 HPB, 3 K, .640 OBP, 1 SH, 2-3 SB-SBA

Season Stats: .500 Avg., 74 AB, 20 runs, 37 hits, 10 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 21 RBIs, .770 SLG %, 18 BB, 4 HPB, 7 K, .615 OBP, 2 SH, 16-19 SB-SBA

Notes: Tennessee senior second baseman Khayyan Norfork continues to establish himself as one of the hottest hitters in the nation, improving his batting average to an even .500 (37-for-74) on the season with 13 hits in five games last week. The Ripley, Tenn., native has now posted 13 multi-hit contests in 20 games this year and leads the SEC in batting average, on-base percentage (.615), slugging percentage (.770) and hits (37). He also ranks second in the league with 18 walks and 16 stolen bases. With hits in all five of UT’s games last week, Norfork has now hit safely in a career-high 11 straight games and 19 of 20 contests this season. He is also one of two Vols (Matt Duffy) to have reached base safely in all 20 games so far this season. Against Austin Peay, Norfork started the game in style, launching a leadoff home run as the first batter of the game. His leadoff home run was the first by a Vol since P.J. Polk did it at Ole Miss on April 3, 2010. He would finish 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs. In the SEC opener at Kentucky on Friday, Norfork struck in the first at-bat again, this time rocketing a double to the gap in left-center. He also walked once, scored twice and stole a base. The 5-10 second baseman really picked up the pace in the final two games, collecting four hits on Saturday and three more on Sunday, including two doubles. For the series against the Wildcats, Norfork finished with a .533 batting average (8-for-15), three two-baggers, a pair of RBIs and scored a team-high three runs.

Tennessee Weekly Notes

Paced by arguably the hottest hitter in the country to this point of the season in senior second baseman Khayyan Norfork, the Tennessee baseball team picked up three wins in five games last week to improve to 16-4 overall. The Volunteers closed out their season-opening 16-game homestand with a 9-1 triumph over Alabama A&M on Tuesday before going on the road to win their ninth-straight contest with a 5-3 victory at Austin Peay the following day. Although Kentucky snapped that streak on Friday night, handing UT a 5-3 loss, the Big Orange came back to win game two, 12-8, before dropping the rubber match, 7-3, on Sunday. Through the first 20 games of the 2011 campaign, Norfork leads the Southeastern Conference in virtually every major offensive category with a cool .500 batting average, .770 slugging percentage and the top on-base percentage in the nation at .615. He also tops the league with 37 hits and ranks second with 18 walks and 16 stolen bases. The Ripley, Tenn., native has been the prototypical leadoff hitter, reaching in 19 of 32 leadoff opportunities for a 59.4 percent success rate. He took that to the extreme against Austin Peay on Wednesday, opening the contest with a home run as the first batter of the game. He also kicked off Friday’s contest against the Wildcats with a double. In that game, the SEC opener for both squads, Kentucky scored five unanswered runs to erase a 3-0 Tennessee lead. It was the Vols who fell behind on Saturday, three different times in fact, but they bounced back each time before a six-run sixth inning propelled them to victory. During that frame, freshman Andrew Toles and junior Charley Thurber each hit three-run home runs. Toles’ was the first of his collegiate career. Sunday saw the Wildcats jump ahead early again, plating four runs in the first inning. The Big Orange finished the contest with 13 hits, but could only bring three runs across home plate before dropping the rubber match. In its three wins last week, three different UT pitchers recorded saves (T.J. Thornton, Matt Ramsey and Nick Blount). The Vols now have nine saves on the season, coming from seven different pitchers no less. By comparison, the team had just four saves all of last season. Tennessee will look to return to the win column this Wednesday when it closes out its five-game road trip with a visit to Lipscomb in Nashville for a 7 p.m. ET showdown. The Orange and White will then return to Rocky Top to jump back into conference action by hosting a three-game set against Ole Miss. The Friday night contest will start at 6 p.m., while first pitch for Saturday and Sunday will be 3 p.m. and 2 p.m. The final two games will also mark UT’s first appearance on television as SportSouth will broadcast both contests. For the most up-to-date information on Volunteer baseball, visit www.UTSports.com/baseball and follow @Vol_Baseball on Twitter.