Todd Raleigh played for Western Carolina from 1988-1991 and was coach of the Catamounts from 2000-2007.
So to say Wednesday’s matchup of his current Tennessee team and his alma mater was just another game would be as believable as a story about Eric Berry returning for his senior year.
But the Diamond Vols would not disappoint their coach, defeating Western Carolina 18-8. After the game, Raleigh spoke of what it felt like to play against his old team.
“It was certainly tough for me to come back here, because I’ve spent a lot of games in the other dugout, probably close to 1,000 as a coach and a player,” Raleigh said. “I wanted to win the game, obviously, because we take a lot of pride in the Tennessee program and wanted to come back here and show people what we’ve done.”
And win they did. The Vols’ offense came out swinging and didn’t stop, scoring in six of the nine innings played. However, Raleigh said a pitcher was the key to the Tennessee victory.
“We swung the bats well again, but the biggest thing for us was Nick Blount,” Raleigh said. “He was the difference in the game. We’ve been looking for a performance like that for a while, and he just did a phenomenal job. We can certainly build off this win. Our bullpen has been struggling a bit lately, so that made what Nick did even more impressive. Sometimes it is like free-throw shooting, and you are able to gain some confidence and grab some momentum. Hopefully this will carry over to the rest of our staff this weekend.”
In four-and-two-thirds innings pitched, the freshman pitcher Blount only allowed one hit and zero earned runs, throwing 57 total pitches while facing 15 batters.
Blount came in with the perfect mindset for success.
“I just wanted to get us off on the right note,” Blount said. “I didn’t want to think of how the bullpen struggled. I just wanted to throw strikes and get ahead in the count.”
Blount also noted the importance of getting a win for his coach.
“He didn’t say anything about it, but of course I knew the situation,” Blount said. “I wanted to go out there and get a win against his old team. I figured that would be pretty cool.”
Blount’s pitching seemed to be the turnaround for the Vols. Starter Alan Walden and Rob Catapano were responsible for all eight runs scored on Wednesday. Blount, Josh Allman and Steve Crnkovich would follow, allowing zero runs apiece in a total of 6.2 innings pitched.
As the score indicated, the Vols’ bats came through when it counted most. In the last five innings of the game, UT scored 11 unanswered runs. Juniors Cody Hawn and Blake Forsythe both had outstanding performances. Forsythe went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Hawn went 3-for-5 with five RBIs. Both hitters were also responsible for home runs, with Forsythe rounding the bases in the third inning and Hawn in the eighth.
There weren’t any other players on the Tennessee roster with as high expectations entering the 2010 season as Hawn and Forsythe. Hawn was a pre-season All-American, and Forsythe was an All-SEC catcher. The two have assumed roles as team leaders, and their production has been key to the Volunteers’ success.
The Vols open up a home series against SEC and in-state rival Vanderbilt on Friday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium at 7 p.m. UT continues the series at 7 p.m. on Saturday before the final game at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Vanderbilt enters the series with a 31-9 (8-7 SEC) record and currently sits third in the SEC East.
