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  • Kentucky v Tennessee Baseball, Game 3 (Sunday)

    Justin Lewis on the mound. He wasn't as sharp last Sunday after the week before when he went 8.0 innings of 1-hit baseball v #1 Florida. Threw 119 pitches that day. Went over 100 last weekend too.

    Hopefully he can have an efficient day today, but he is a strikeout pitcher and that often means more pitches.

    Comments 45 Comments
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Vol pitcher doing a nice job in the first inning. Cottam down 0-2, now 1-2 in the count after two straight outs, and just misses with a slow slider just off the outside black. Misses another with the same pitch. I like this guy, but I think if Kentucky is patient, we can take him. Cottam fouls one, and this is a nice at bat. Another ball, and another ball and he walks. Terrific at-bat, and kept the Vol pitcher from waltzing through the top of the lineup.

      Heyer down in the count 0-2 as well. Getting ahead, and working fast. Good job of going down and getting the ball and slapping it in the hole between SS and 3rd for a base hit; hit his slow slider.

      I did not realize, but UT is playing today without their head coach or pitching coach, as both were suspended for "excessive arguing" yesterday when they got tossed. Thanks to the TV folks for that tidbit.

      Becker at the plate, and he's 1-1, now 2-1. Pitcher now up to 20 pitches, was almost out of the inning in single digit pitches. Slow curve; announcers say change, they're probably right, definitely different than his slider, 2-2. Oh, my, Becker takes a pitch that deserved a strikeout. Just off the inside edge. Good call technically, but man, you want that pitch called.

      Ball four, and bases loaded with two outs.

      Ryan Johnson at the plate, swings at the first pitch and grounds to the pitcher. Nice grab by the pitcher, but I question flailing away at that first pitch.

      B1 | Kentucky 0, Tennessee 0
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Three pitch strikeout on a check swing and Lewis starts sharp.

      0-2, and that's five straight strikes to begin the game. Changeup away, and misses. Another one and there's a weak swing flailing away that misses badly. Seven pitches, two strikeouts.

      Sub 90mph fastball, but his location is good, and that changeup is deadly. There's two straight strikes, and that's 9 pitches, 8 strikes, and nobody has touched the ball. There's another changeup, strike 3 weakly swinging, and that's 10 pitches, 9 of them strikes, and nobody came close to touching the ball.

      T2 | Kentucky 0, Tennessee 0
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Fly ball to CF, strikeout, foul pop-up to 2nd baseman.

      Cats will have top of the lineup up next inning.

      Tennessee pitcher is Neely, so I'll start calling him by his name instead of "the Vol pitcher."

      Neely at 36 pitches.

      B2 | Kentucky 0, Tennessee 0
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Lewis will face 4-5-6 this inning.
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Before action today, here is the SEC standings (SEC Tournament order, without regard to tiebreakers).

      1. Florida 18-5
      2. Arkansas 14-9

      3. Georgia 15-9 (bad luck to be in the East)
      4. South Carolina 13-10

      5. Ole Miss 12-11
      6. Auburn 12-11

      7. Kentucky 11-12
      7. Vanderbilt 11-12
      7. Texas A&M 11-12
      7. LSU 11-12

      11. Miss. State 10-13
      12. Tennessee 9-14

      13. Missouri 9-15
      14. Alabama 6-17 (will keep the SEC tournament attendance a little down if they don't make it)


      Ground ball to Dawson for out # 1. Base hit to CF, and there goes the no-hitter early (not unusual for Lewis; actually, the hot start is fairly unusual for him).

      Fly ball to CF for out # 2.
      Ground ball to 2nd for out # 3.

      Lewis at 20 pitches.

      T3 | Kentucky 0, Tennessee 0
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Those standings show just how important these games are. While Kentucky is within reach of a top 4 seed, so are 10 other teams. Crazy how bundled up they are.

      Cats must win all their series, and it wouldn't hurt to sweep one of them. So this is another "must win" game. (No, for those that are technical, none of these games are "must" wins at this point. But it is very, very important.)
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Kentucky pitching this series.

      Attachment 7102
    1. UKFlounder's Avatar
      UKFlounder -
      What was worse - these standings or the men’s basketball standings?


      Quote Originally Posted by Darrell KSR View Post
      Those standings show just how important these games are. While Kentucky is within reach of a top 4 seed, so are 10 other teams. Crazy how bundled up they are.

      Cats must win all their series, and it wouldn't hurt to sweep one of them. So this is another "must win" game. (No, for those that are technical, none of these games are "must" wins at this point. But it is very, very important.)
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Quote Originally Posted by UKFlounder View Post
      What was worse - these standings or the men’s basketball standings?
      They were both a mess, weren't they?
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Pompey with a four-pitch walk to lead off the 3rd.

      Ball just off the inside black hits Squires on the arm, and it's a HBP. Not as bad a pitch as you'd think, although it was a little high.

      Two on, nobody out. Let's go, Cats.

      Neely looks like he's sorta hunting pitches now. Aiming, rather than throwing. Vol catcher agrees with me, or gets a signal from the dugout to go talk to the pitcher to discuss it, and it slows him down a bit. Neely is a fast worker, so that's a good move when he's out of rhythm, which is the case right now.

      Cottam with a home run swing, but fouls it back instead. Pitch could've been driven; he wishes he could have that one back. Hits a long foul down the right field line, but out of play of the right fielder, who had too far to run.

      If Neely makes a mistake, Cottam will drive it. Doesn't there, good pitch inside, fouled off.

      Neely with pitch # 48 coming. Fouls that off again. Good pitches, come on, make a mistake.

      Steps off the mound, I would love a balk now, just for the entertainment value (the 2nd balk yesterday is what caused the two Vol coaches to be ejected.)

      Pitch low, and Cottam almost went for it. Whew. Just a little low. 2-2. Oh, my that was the pitch, and Cottam fouled it straight back. Wow. Shoot. Dang. That was it. Belt high down the middle. Oh my.

      He won't make another mistake. Ball high and inside, full court. I'd take a walk. Fouls another, and Cottam has done a good job at this at-bat. Pitch # 53 coming. Neely has gone over 100 pitches three times this year, courtesy of the announcers, who must have read my mind.

      Steps off the rubber, and fakes a throw to 2nd. Oh, please, balk.

      Runners were moving on the full count. Will they do it again? Yes. Slow bouncer to SS, doubt it would have resulted in a double play, but that possibility was removed with the runners moving.

      Both runners move in scoring position, and Luke Heyer at the plate. First base is open. Will they pitch to him, pitch around him?

      Outside, ball one. Not sure if they're pitching around him or not with that one. My feed delayed and somehow it's 1-1. Foul, now it's 1-2. Would like something in the outfield, or at least a ground ball. Infield is playing way back, conceding the run.

      Another foul. Pop-up just behind 2nd base, CF handles, but it's way too short to get the run in, and great job by Neely.

      Two outs, and will take a hit now. Or a balk. Come on, balk.

      Luke Becker at the plate, two outs, two runners in scoring position. 0-1 on a curve. Change up, 0-2. Crap.

      Foul. Next pitch from Neely is # 62.

      Strike three looking. Yech.

      B3 | Kentucky 0, Tennessee 0
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      My feed is awful right now; not sure if it's the network or my connection. I may reboot between innings.

      Full count on the leadoff batter, and there's a base hit.

      Lewis throwing some ground balls today; how about a double play ball? Cats think UT will be bunting, and they are right. No, they're not, as he pulled the bat back from the fake bunt and was hitting away. Now he's bunting.

      Announcers calls it a good bunt, and I'd call it effective. It popped up 10 feet in the air, but it was well down the 1st base line, and Lewis couldn't catch it in the air, but he does field it on one hop, and tags him out, and the SAC works.

      3-1, and Lewis is throwing across his body. His form hasn't been picture perfect, but he's more off right now on his changeup. I worry they'll start reading something.

      Ball high and it's a walk and UT has two on, one out, but we're set up for that Dawson-Becker double play, right?

      Lewis has gained a couple mph on his fast ball, now next to 90.

      Extra base hit--nope, it is about 30 inches foul. Thank you. Richocheted up against the fence, but just foul down the RF line.

      Ground ball to 2nd, and Becker boots it, and everybody is safe. He should have just gotten the easy out, and he was trying to rush to get a very difficult double play on a slowly hit ground ball, and that is a huge, huge error.

      Bases loaded, one out, and should've been two outs. Lewis will throw pitch # 39 in a minute, and that's antoher consequence, as it will run up his pitch count.

      Wild pitch, and Tennessee leads, 1-0. Changeup was just ahead of the catcher's mitt, but pet peeve, as Squires tried to capture it like you might try to catch a bug, rather than getting on his knees, turning the mitt upside down and blocking it.

      Fly ball to LF, and it's 2-0 as the SAC fly works. Two runs on one hit. Sigh. Walk, error, SAC bunt, SAC fly, Wild pitch. Kentucky not doing things they should be doing and not making Tennessee earn this. One of the two runs is earned.

      Base hit, and it's 3-0. Two unearned runs. Wasn't hit hard, just sort of looped it into RCF. Lewis will throw pitch # 45 next. He needs to eat a few innings today, and Kentucky needs to get the bats hot.

      2-1. Just not on his game now. Squires comes out to talk to him. He's still at 32 strikes, 15 balls, but he started throwing nothing but strikes.

      2-2. Foul, and here's pitch # 50. Foul. Foul. Strike 3 (52 pitches now).

      T4 | Kentucky 0, Tennessee 3
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      2-0, and fly ball to CF. Sigh. Down 3 runs, we can't take a strike on 2-0 with bases empty?

      Another fly ball to CF and it's out # 2. This is looking like an easy inning for Neely. Aklinski now up, and I'd like to see him work the pitcher some. Too easy this inning.

      He does as I ask, takes ball one. Also takes a strike. I'm happy. Now a grounder to SS, and a 3 up, 3 down inning, and Neely holds his pitch count at 72.

      B4 | Kentucky 0, Tennessee 3
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      i have determined it is a bad feed, at least in my area. Commercials working perfectly. Figures.

      I'm going to grab a late lunch here, but will be around, just likely a little less dialogue. Maybe that will bring Cats good luck.
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      3 up, 3 down for Lewis, two strikeouts.

      T5 | Kentucky 0, Tennessee 3
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Lewis line: 4.0 ip, 3 runs, 1 ER, 6 SO, 3 hits, 1 BB, 67 pitches.

      Dawson up to lead off the 5th, draws a walk. That's big. Top of the lineup now.

      Pompey ahead 2-1, takes what he thinks is a ball, they call a strike, 2-2. Full count, will Dawson run?

      Base hit and Dawson keeps running to 3rd, and runners on the corners. Pompey with a nice job of pulling an outside pitch into RCF. Kid is strong.

      Squires up. Neely at 85 pitches. Vols send 10 guys to the bullpen in a comedic sort of thing (nobody was there, now everybody is.)

      Dang, infield pop-up. 1 out. That's big.

      Cottam up, the Knoxville native who was ignored by Tennessee. His motivation is an "11" on a scale of 1 to 10.

      Swings wildly at a plate low that would've been 2-0. Another low. Cottam with 16 HRs; he's looking for # 17.

      Won't get it, but he does lift a SAC fly to RF, and Kentucky is on the scoreboard.

      Neely has a blister after 92 pitches. Trainer looks at it, but they don't do anything. It did allow the bullpen to throw a good 7 or 8 more pitches, though.

      Heyer laces a line drive but it's early, foul down 3B line. He was all over that fastball. Neely throwing pitch # 94 next. I doubt he'll pitch next inning.

      Heyer lashes it on a line, ball hit like a bullet, but LF catches it on the warning track.

      B5 | Kentucky 1, Tennessee 3
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Neely has thrown 96 pitches for Tennessee. As stated earlier, he has gone over 100 three times this year, but with a blister developing, you have to question whether he'll be seen next inning.

      Lewis will take the mound.
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Ground ball to 3rd and one out.

      Base hit puts a runner on. Steals 2nd, now in scoring position. That's their leadoff hitter, and he's speedy, now 19-of-21 in stolen base attempts.

      Dawson trying hard to keep the runner close. Will he steal 3rd?

      LEWIS GOT HIM. Picks him off 2nd, caught him leaning. Nice.

      They're going to replay it, but he's out. I'll post and return. Two outs, nobody on.
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Strikeout ends the inning.

      T6 | Kentucky 1, Tennessee 3

      Lewis at 76 pitches. Should have 1-2 innings remaining in him. (See above for depleted bullpen).
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      New pitcher for Tennessee will be Crochet. I know nothing about him.
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Garrett Crochet has not had a great year.

      54.2 innings, 62 hits, 51 strikeouts, 6.09 ERA.
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