The Diamond Vols entered their weekend road series against Mississippi State looking to improve their 17-17 record. However, the 17-16 Mississippi State team shared the same goal. Both teams held sub-.500 records in SEC play and were in need of a momentum-shifting series.
Game one would be favorable for the Tennessee team. The Vols defeated the Bulldogs 15-13 in Starkville, Miss.
“It was great to get a win on a Friday night in SEC play,” UT head coach Todd Raleigh said. “We swung the bats unbelievably well, and we actually had a couple hits taken away from us because of some great defensive plays. We didn’t pitch all that well, but we got some strong performances out of (Will) Locante and (Matt) Ramsey there at the end.
“The thing that I am most happy about was how we responded every time they scored and were able to extend our lead. I thought those rebound runs were the key to the game.”
The UT offense had many contributors, including sophomore utility player Matt Ramsey. Ramsey went 3-for-3 including a walk, single, double and a solo home run in the eighth inning. Ramsey would help out his own cause, as he earned his second save of the year, pitching the final inning of the game.
Junior Josh Liles also helped the cause by hitting 4-of-6, including a ninth-inning double. Juniors P.J. Polk and Matt Duffy also had multi-hit games, each gettimg three hits and a home run.
In game two, the Volunteers would find it hard to keep up with the Bulldogs, losing 11-7. As the score would indicate, pitching was a major problem for UT in this game, as noted by Raleigh.
“We didn’t pitch well again today,” Raleigh said. “We hit the ball hard again today. It was good to see Blake (Forsythe) and Charley (Thurber) both get a couple of hits and hit home runs for the second straight day. We had some extra-base hits today, but their pitcher did a good job.”
Raleigh said the score showed UT didn’t capitalize on opportunities.
“With that said, anytime you score seven runs off a pitcher and he throws 144 pitches, that should be enough to win,” Raleigh said. “We just need to come out tomorrow and pitch better. We need to limit our walks and hit-by-pitches and get into their bullpen early. If we do that, we will be fine.”
Starter Stephen McCray lasted six innings and gave up five runs. The UT bullpen would not allow its team to stay in the game, giving up six runs in the home half of the seventh inning.
Sophomore Charley Thurber would contribute with his bat. He homered for the second time in the series and went 2-for-4. Junior Blake Forsythe would also contribute by hitting his sixth home run of the season and going 2-for-4.
In the final game of the series, pitching would once again plague the Vols as Mississippi State won 14-6.
“We let them get out to too big of a lead early on,” UT assistant coach Bradley LeCroy said. “We put a dent in it when we scored two to make it 7-3 and we still had a chance in the game, but you can’t proceed to go out there and give up rebound runs. It just killed the momentum of our team. We walked too many guys and hit some guys. You have to give Mississippi State credit, though. They took advantage of everything we gave them.”
The juniors would prove to be the biggest part of UT’s offense on Sunday. Duffy was the top performer of the game, recording three hits, including two doubles. Khayyan Norfork and Liles also had multi-hit games, while Polk earned his 32nd RBI of the season. Polk trails only Cody Hawn who hit his 33rd RBI on Sunday.
