First off, I think that everyone is probably surprised that Tennessee only comes in at 9-8.... In year four of Dave Serrano and with a strong junior class, the expectations were high in Knoxville coming into this year. But when we drill into it a bit more, we see that Tennessee has played on the road quite a bit this season and has dropped a number of one run contests. They opened the season in south Florida against Florida International where the dropped 2 of 3, though they outscored FIU 12-9 over the weekend. Weather cancelled a four game home set against Rutgers, forcing the Vols to Emerson GA to play a single game against Lipscomb. They then headed out west to play a three game set against Anteaters of UC Irvine. The Vols were swept in a double header to start that series, then rebounded with a 12-10 win in the series finale. After weather scrubbed both of their midweek games the following week, they took 2 of 3 from Grand Canyon at home. Last weekend, of course, they beat Florida in Gainesville in game one before losing the next two days to drop the series. They've only played 6 home games all season and are 4-2 in those.
Don't sell these guys short though. They are very well coached and they have some talent. We are going to have to earn it up there this weekend.
Tomorrow night, we'll face off with Bret Marks, a senior righty from Roswell GA and Blessed Trinity High School. Marks started off at Miss State, but wound up at Wallace Community College before landing in Knoxville. Marks is off to a great start, with 5 appearances, all starts, with 30 2/3 innings pitched. He has a 1.17 ERA, a 35/8 K/BB and the opposition is hitting only .123 against him this season. He took a no hitter into the 9th inning at Florida last Friday night, and I think anyone would tell you that against that lineup, in that park, it's VERY impressive. Some of our older guys will have some familiarity with Marks from East Cobb. He did throw 2/3 of an inning against us last year on Saturday, and it didn't go well as he gave up 1 hit and 2 walks and was charged with 3 runs. It appears that Marks is a fastball/ changeup guy... Should be 88-92 on his fastball and his change is apparently above average.
Saturday we'll see a familiar face in Drake Owenby. Owenby was their closer last year when we played them. The 6'3, 210 junior lefty fails from Powell Tennessee, a bit outside of Knoxville. On the year he's made 5 appearances, 4 starts and thrown 25 2/3 innings. He has a 24/8 K/BB, a 2.81 ERA and the opposition is hitting .238 against him. Looks like he had a rough time in Gainesville last weekend as he worked 4 1/3 innings allowing 6 hits, 4 runs (2 earned) with 4 K's and a walk. He threw 71 pitches and had several fly ball outs. This guy is capable of throwing 95, and will do that, but he'll also dial back his fastball in some spots. His curveball is really good, when it's on. He's had some control issues in his time at Tennessee, but it looks like he's cleaning that up this year. This guy has the ability to overmatch our hitters and it's equally possible that he'll get run early. I imagine that his changeup is getting better too. He has an awful lot of ability.
Sunday, we'll see Kyle Serrano, the coach's kid. Serrano is a sophomore righty who hails from the powerhouse of Farragut High School in Knoxville. Like Owenby, Serrano has struggled with control (40/41 K/BB last year), but has some good stuff. He'll throw his fastball in the mid 90s. His curveball and change up aren't great, but they're getting better as I understand it. They say his fastball was a little flat last year, and I have no idea if that's still the case. Guys who show up throwing 95-96 are usually "high ceiling" pitchers, and that's the word on Serrano. On the year, he's 1-2 in 5 appearances, 4 starts. He's thrown 18 2/3 innings and has a 14/11 K/BB. He has a 3.86 ERA and the opposition is hitting only .188 against him. He had a very rough go in Gainesville last Sunday. He only lasted 2 2/3 innings and allowed 6 hits, 5 earned runs, with 4 BBs and 2 K's. He certainly looks like the most hittable of the three. Like Owenby, there's going to a big area between his best and when he struggles.
Offensively, the Vols are lead by Vincent Jackson, a very well put together junior OF from Luella High School in McDonough GA. Jackson is off to to a tear in 2015. The lefty is hitting .390/ .500/ .475. He's 7/11 in steals. Jackson doesn't have a ton of power, but is a very tough out (obviously... he's getting on base in half of his plate appearances). He's also 7/11 in steal attempts. We'll see Jackson at the top this weekend.
Christin (not "Christian") Stewart is another junior lefty from metro Atlanta. Stewart is from Lawrenceville and went to Providence Christian. We'll see him hitting 3rd. He's .345/.473/.690 on the year with 5 HRs. He's only got 12 K's in 58 ABs, which looks really good for a power guy.
Former UGA signee Nick Senzell and his Farragut teammate AJ Simox are steal threats at 4/5 and 6/6 respectively. Both guys have 1 HR. I was really impressed with how Senzell handled the bat last year. He's not a great defensive player and probably should DH for the Vols this weekend, though we may see him at 2B. We'll most likely see Simox in the 2 spot and Senzell hitting cleanup.
Also, he doesn't play a whole lot as a freshman, but catcher Benito Santiago is the son of the former Major Leaguer of the same name.
Another familiar name to longer term Diamond Dawg fans will be the UT strength & conditioning coach, Herman Dimmick. Dimmick, of course, played for Jack Leggett at Clemson and was their 2nd baseman during that classic regional in 2004.
Tennessee as a team is 25/39 in steals on the season and have only allowed 9/19.
When you look at the stat sheet and their roster, you realize this team is way better than 9-8.
Really though, where we are right now, this weekend is about us as much anything else. We are completely capable of going up there and winning this series. This isn't always the case, but I absolutely think that we control our fate to a much larger extent this weekend than does Tennessee.
Don't sell these guys short though. They are very well coached and they have some talent. We are going to have to earn it up there this weekend.
Tomorrow night, we'll face off with Bret Marks, a senior righty from Roswell GA and Blessed Trinity High School. Marks started off at Miss State, but wound up at Wallace Community College before landing in Knoxville. Marks is off to a great start, with 5 appearances, all starts, with 30 2/3 innings pitched. He has a 1.17 ERA, a 35/8 K/BB and the opposition is hitting only .123 against him this season. He took a no hitter into the 9th inning at Florida last Friday night, and I think anyone would tell you that against that lineup, in that park, it's VERY impressive. Some of our older guys will have some familiarity with Marks from East Cobb. He did throw 2/3 of an inning against us last year on Saturday, and it didn't go well as he gave up 1 hit and 2 walks and was charged with 3 runs. It appears that Marks is a fastball/ changeup guy... Should be 88-92 on his fastball and his change is apparently above average.
Saturday we'll see a familiar face in Drake Owenby. Owenby was their closer last year when we played them. The 6'3, 210 junior lefty fails from Powell Tennessee, a bit outside of Knoxville. On the year he's made 5 appearances, 4 starts and thrown 25 2/3 innings. He has a 24/8 K/BB, a 2.81 ERA and the opposition is hitting .238 against him. Looks like he had a rough time in Gainesville last weekend as he worked 4 1/3 innings allowing 6 hits, 4 runs (2 earned) with 4 K's and a walk. He threw 71 pitches and had several fly ball outs. This guy is capable of throwing 95, and will do that, but he'll also dial back his fastball in some spots. His curveball is really good, when it's on. He's had some control issues in his time at Tennessee, but it looks like he's cleaning that up this year. This guy has the ability to overmatch our hitters and it's equally possible that he'll get run early. I imagine that his changeup is getting better too. He has an awful lot of ability.
Sunday, we'll see Kyle Serrano, the coach's kid. Serrano is a sophomore righty who hails from the powerhouse of Farragut High School in Knoxville. Like Owenby, Serrano has struggled with control (40/41 K/BB last year), but has some good stuff. He'll throw his fastball in the mid 90s. His curveball and change up aren't great, but they're getting better as I understand it. They say his fastball was a little flat last year, and I have no idea if that's still the case. Guys who show up throwing 95-96 are usually "high ceiling" pitchers, and that's the word on Serrano. On the year, he's 1-2 in 5 appearances, 4 starts. He's thrown 18 2/3 innings and has a 14/11 K/BB. He has a 3.86 ERA and the opposition is hitting only .188 against him. He had a very rough go in Gainesville last Sunday. He only lasted 2 2/3 innings and allowed 6 hits, 5 earned runs, with 4 BBs and 2 K's. He certainly looks like the most hittable of the three. Like Owenby, there's going to a big area between his best and when he struggles.
Offensively, the Vols are lead by Vincent Jackson, a very well put together junior OF from Luella High School in McDonough GA. Jackson is off to to a tear in 2015. The lefty is hitting .390/ .500/ .475. He's 7/11 in steals. Jackson doesn't have a ton of power, but is a very tough out (obviously... he's getting on base in half of his plate appearances). He's also 7/11 in steal attempts. We'll see Jackson at the top this weekend.
Christin (not "Christian") Stewart is another junior lefty from metro Atlanta. Stewart is from Lawrenceville and went to Providence Christian. We'll see him hitting 3rd. He's .345/.473/.690 on the year with 5 HRs. He's only got 12 K's in 58 ABs, which looks really good for a power guy.
Former UGA signee Nick Senzell and his Farragut teammate AJ Simox are steal threats at 4/5 and 6/6 respectively. Both guys have 1 HR. I was really impressed with how Senzell handled the bat last year. He's not a great defensive player and probably should DH for the Vols this weekend, though we may see him at 2B. We'll most likely see Simox in the 2 spot and Senzell hitting cleanup.
Also, he doesn't play a whole lot as a freshman, but catcher Benito Santiago is the son of the former Major Leaguer of the same name.
Another familiar name to longer term Diamond Dawg fans will be the UT strength & conditioning coach, Herman Dimmick. Dimmick, of course, played for Jack Leggett at Clemson and was their 2nd baseman during that classic regional in 2004.
Tennessee as a team is 25/39 in steals on the season and have only allowed 9/19.
When you look at the stat sheet and their roster, you realize this team is way better than 9-8.
Really though, where we are right now, this weekend is about us as much anything else. We are completely capable of going up there and winning this series. This isn't always the case, but I absolutely think that we control our fate to a much larger extent this weekend than does Tennessee.
