Numbers game: Baseball Vols focused on wins for stretch run

Tennessee senior second baseman Jeff Moberg hit a two-run homer to help the Vols beat ETSU 9-2 on Tuesday night, but now they turn their attention to another SEC series with the regular season in the stretch run.
Tennessee senior second baseman Jeff Moberg hit a two-run homer to help the Vols beat ETSU 9-2 on Tuesday night, but now they turn their attention to another SEC series with the regular season in the stretch run.

KNOXVILLE - Dave Serrano found several flaws in his Tennessee baseball team's 9-2 win against East Tennessee State University on Tuesday night.

Pitchers issued too many walks, hitters combined for too many poor at-bats and the team suffered some lapses in focus, the coach said.

But Tennessee (23-18, 6-14 Southeastern Conference) won, and winning is becoming a matter of survival for the Volunteers as their regular season's final chapter begins tonight with the opening of a series against No. 18 Arkansas in Knoxville. The 7 p.m. game will be shown on the SEC Network.

"Every game matters to us right now," Serrano said. "Batting averages don't matter. ERAs don't matter. Win-and-loss records on the mound don't matter right now. What matters the most is RPI (Rating Percentage Index) and how many games we're behind Missouri, who we're trying to catch, and how many games we're ahead of Georgia and Alabama.

"Those are the only numbers that matter right now."

Tennessee is 12th in the 14-team SEC with three weekends of regular-season conference play remaining. The top 12 teams qualify for the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala., later this month, and the league could send a double-digit number of teams on to the 64-team NCAA playoffs.

Ten SEC teams rank in the top 35 of the RPI, which considers a team's record and strength of schedule. Despite a poor beginning to conference play, the Volunteers sit just outside that group with an RPI of 41.

The Razorbacks (34-12, 13-8) have dropped their past two series but lead the league with 58 home runs and will test a pitching staff that has found a groove over the past several weekends. Led by senior right-hander Hunter Martin, the Vols have allowed more than four runs just once in their past 10 SEC games.

The likely starter tonight, Martin will probably hope for more run support than he has received while pitching three consecutive complete games, each a one-run loss for the Vols.

"In game one (of a series), it's always going to be a close battle," Serrano said. "It's about taking opportunities when they're given to you."

Jeff Moberg jump-started Tennessee's offense against ETSU with a two-run home run over the left-field wall. The senior second baseman is aware Arkansas has a reputation for power at the plate.

"But we've just got to go out there and compete how we have been over the last couple weeks and put together good offense, defense and pitch, and we should be fine," he said after Tuesday's win.

Putting together solid offense against SEC competition could be the most critical piece for the Vols down the stretch.

"The bottom line is we've won four out of our last five games," Serrano said. "We're pitching pretty well, we're playing good defense, and that's what wins baseball games. We've got to continue to get better with our bats and our approach at times and scoring runs when we have to.

"But I really like the way we're pitching, and we've got to continue that as we finish up SEC play and go into the tournament."

Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.

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