Where Is Deshaun Watson Playing Next Season?
After falling behind 3-0, Tennessee baseball came charging back to earn a 10-3 win over Georgia Southern Saturday.
The win moves Tennessee to 2-0 as they clinched the weekend series against the Eagles.
FINAL NUMBERS
NOTES
– Georgia Southern transfer Chase Dollander made his Tennessee debut against his old team and was absolutely brilliant for five innings. In the first five innings, Georgia Southern mustered just one hit and Dollander fanned 11 batters.
The right-handed transfer was simply dominant in those first five innings before allowing three hits — including a bunt single — that ran him from the game in the sixth. Dollander’s earned run average isn’t going to make it look like a great debut, but it was.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Dollander’s performance was that his fastball was still sitting 95-96 MPH in the sixth inning. The sophomore’s fastball topped out at 97 MPH in his debut.
– Vanderbilt transfer Ethan Smith made his debut, posting a scoreless seventh inning with major help from his defense. Georgia Southern recorded three hits against Smith, but a caught stealing and a Jordan Beck throw out at the plate kept the Eagles off the board.
I didn’t get to watch Smith’s outing as I drove home to get ready for basketball, so I’ll let Tony Vitello analyze his performance below.
– Tennessee made a few situational mistakes that will drive Tony Vitello crazy. The Vols got doubled up on a 8-4-3 double-play after Kyle Booker couldn’t find the ball on a hit-and-run and couldn’t get back to first on time.
Dollander couldn’t properly field a sac bunt to pick up the first out of the sixth inning on a safety squeeze. Tennessee was nearly out of the inning having only given up two runs. Will Mabrey had Austin Thompson in an 0-2 count with two-outs when Georgia Southern successfully pulled off a delayed double steal to score a run.
– In the season opener, it was the new starters that delivered for Tennessee’s lineup. That wasn’t the case on Saturday when seven of the Vols’ 10 RBIs came from their four returning starters.
Luc Lipcius roped an RBI double in the gap and Drew Gilbert provided the dagger with an eighth inning grand slam.
– That was a very 2021 Tennessee baseball win. If you followed last baseball season, you know that’s a huge compliment. The Vols didn’t play well for much of that game, but didn’t panic and it never really felt like Georgia Southern would even up the series.
Tennessee answered with three runs to tie the game right after the Eagles took the lead in the sixth inning and they didn’t look back afterwards.
– For the second straight game, Tennessee walked just one batter.
QUOTES
Tony Vitello on Chase Dollander’s debut
“He was phenomenal. He’s not necessarily built up to go the distance you’ll see a starter go come May or even earlier than that. It’s sad that he gave up three earned runs in a shorter outing because, I think 11 strikeouts, over two strikeouts an inning basically is what he averaged. The bottom line is he set the tone for the day, it’s on our offensive end of the deal that we weren’t able to get him a couple runs or break the tie there so every pitch kind of felt like the game was on the line even though it was the middle of the game. His stuff was great and I look forward to seeing how he progresses throughout the year.”
Vitello on the veteran bats delivering
“I think it’s a matter of time before those guys are able to contribute. We need other guys too as well, but those guys are in the lineup for a reason. They have the experience you’re referring to for a reason. They’re gifted but they’re also very competitive so as we go through the highs-and-lows that are natural with a baseball season, fully expect those guys to be the core of what we have going on.”
Vitello on what he saw in RHP Ethan Smith’s debut
“The bottom line is he has a very good breaking ball. He showed that a few times, and had a presence about him that kind of displays he has some experience as well. Until we get some guys out there that’s kind of what we’re looking for.”
Evan Russell on the fur coat Tennessee added to its home run celebration
“So the fur coat comes from, when I was a child I was saved by a bunch of gorillas and I grew up, got pretty athletic and a leopard attacked me and I came out on top. Some people call my Tarzan, but other people call me Evan. I’m just kidding it was off of Amazon. I thought it was pretty cool though. A lot of guys wanted to add a little something and it kind of looks nice. I think we’re going to ride with it for the moment.”
Russell on throwing out a runner stealing for the first time
“Man, it felt great. I don’t think it was one of my better throws but Cortland helped me out. I definitely owe him a steak or a meal at some point. It felt good to get that one out of the way. Today was definitely more comfortable than yesterday and I think it’s going to build on that.”
Chase Dollander on what was working well for him
“I’d say the fastball was working really well today and played well up. They were on my off speed all day, so I kind of leaned on the fastball up.”
Dollander on facing old teammates
“I knew most of them and how they were going to approach me and stuff so I kind of took that mindset and used it against them. Obviously, I faced them all fall last year and I know a good bit of them and how they are.”
