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April 16, 2012
Overall Record: 21-15, 7-8 SECRecord Last Week: 1-3
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7 p.m.
Knoxville
7:30 pm ET
Starkville
7:30 pm ET
Starkville
1:30 pm ET
Starkville
Junior
CF - 5-9 - 180
Houston, Texas
Weekly Stats:.385, 4 G, 13 AB, 2 R, 5 H, 1 RBI, .385 SLG, .500 OBP
Season Stats:.281, 36 G, 114 AB, 20 R, 32 H, 5 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 23 RBIs, .412 SLG, .381 OBP
Notes: Fritts led the Vols with a .385 batting average on the week and made a number of stellar defensive plays, including a game-saving grab in Tennessee's 5-4 win over No. 4 Florida on Saturday night which was later named earned top billing on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays.
With two runners on base and two outs, UF's Justin Shafer laced a 2-2 pitch to the gap in left-center. Fritts was able to run it down and make a fully-outstretched diving grab to put the third out on the board and preserve UT's slim lead. The Vols would go on to close out the win, their fifth over a ranked team this season.
He also drove in a run earlier in the contest with one of Tennessee's three successful safety squeeze bunts on the day, which he actually legged out for a single.
Fritts scored the team's first run on Saturday as well, coming home from first on a hit-and-run double by freshman Richard Carter in the second inning.
Tennessee was 1-3 on the week, but the one win was a big one as it defeated No. 4 Florida, 5-4, on Saturday night for its fifth win over a ranked team this season.
Vol fans came out in droves to see UT play the Gators, with a total of 9,561 Orange and White faithful making their way through the turnstiles at Lindsey Nelson Stadium over the weekend. That total ranks as the second-highest for a weekend series in school history, behind only the 11,280 that saw the Big Orange play Florida during the 1994 campaign.
Tennessee's record now stands at 21-15 overall and 7-8 at the midway mark of SEC play. UT's league win total already matches their number of conference victories for all of 2011.
In the Orange and White's 5-4 win over fourth-ranked Florida on Saturday, the Vols scored on three different safety squeezes and got five shutout innings from their bullpen.
Freshman Richard Carter, who entered the game with three career hits and two RBIs, was 2-for-3 and drove in three runs in the contest. Junior Chris Fritts helped preserve the victory, laying out for a spectacular diving grab with two runners on base in the fifth. The catch later earned top billing on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays, marking the second time in Fritts' career that he has earned a spot on the program's highlight list having also accomplished the feat as a freshman after a game at Oregon State.
Junior Nick Blount came on for the ninth inning in Saturday's contest to record his ninth save in nine opportunities since becoming the UT closer. He now stands in a tie for fourth with former Vol Randy MacNeill (1991-92) in both single-season saves and career saves (10). Blount's 57 career appearances tie for ninth all-time with Dusty Johnson (2001-04).
The Vols dropped their first game of the week, 4-3, at ETSU, as well as the series opener against the Gators, 3-1. Florida then claimed the series finale, 8-1. In the series against Florida, sophomore Dalton Saberhagen and junior Drew Steckenrider were both fantastic out of the bullpen, combining to allow just three hits and strike out five in 9.0 shutout innings.
Tennessee will look for a little revenge when it hosts ETSU at 7 p.m. on Tuesday before hitting the road for Starkville, Miss., where it will square off with Mississippi State in a three-game set. The first game of that series will be the ESPNU Thursday Night Game of the Week at 7:30 p.m. ET on April 19. The Vols and Bulldogs will also take each other on at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday and 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
For the most up-to-date information on Volunteer baseball, visit www.UTSports.com/baseball and follow @Vol_Baseball on Twitter.
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