Tennessee baseball’s losing streak extended to four games Tuesday night as the Vols fell to Tennessee Tech 12-5 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Golden Eagles jumped on Tennessee early and while the Vols put pressure on their instate foe, they never completely erased the defecit.
Here’s everything you need to know about Tennessee’s disappointing defeat.
Golden Eagles Strike First
Tennessee Tech was 10-24 entering the game but that didn’t stop the Golden Eagles from coming out with energy and delivering the first blow in the midweek bout.
The Golden Eagles jumped on the usually reliable midweek starter Zander Sechrist. Tennessee Tech led off the game with three straight singles to load the based with nobody out and run Sechrist from the game. Freshman AJ Russell came in and did a good job of limiting the damage, allowing just one of the inherited runs to score.
Russell kept Tennessee Tech off the scoreboard in the second inning but the Golden Eagles were ready to capitalize when the tall right-hander exited.
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases with a single and a pair of walks off of Bryce Jenkins and ran him from a game when Preston Ford doubles to deep left center. Aaron Combs replaced him but had no immediate success, surrendering consecutive singles before getting out of the inning.
Tennessee Tech hung a four spot in the third inning to extend its lead to 5-0. The Vols were looking to immediately erase the memory of a poor weekend in Fayetteville. The Golden Eagles made sure they didn’t early.
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Tennessee Tech Capitalizes On 0-2 Mistake
Tennessee had pulled within one run of the Golden Eagles after Hunter Ensley combined to drive in four runs in the third and fourth inning. After the poor start, Tennessee was back in the thick of the game and seemed poised to take the lead sooner or later.
But things went awry for the Vols with two-outs in the sixth inning. After Dylan Dreiling threw a Golden Eagle runner trying to stretch a single into a double out at second for the inning’s second out, Tony Vitello went to his bullpen.
RHP Zach Joyce came in to relieve Jacob Bimbi and looked like he would quickly get out of the inning when he got ahead of Peyton Mills 1-2. But Joyce’s 1-2 pitch got away from him and hit Mills to give Tennessee Tech a baserunner. However, the hit batter was the least of Joyce’s problems. The junior held his right elbow after the pitch and exited the game after trainer Jeff Wood looked at him.
LHP Jake Fitzgibbons relieved Joyce and quickly got ahead 0-2 before missing right over the middle. John Dyer made him pay, homering to left field to extend Tennessee Tech’s lead to 7-4.
Missing an 0-2 pitch over the middle continues a troubling theme for the Vols’ pitchers this season. Dyer and the Golden Eagles made Fitzgibbons and the Vols pay in a big moment.
Ensley And Scott’s Bats Show Up, Few Others Do
Not only did Tennessee fall to Tennessee Tech at home Tuesday night, they were thoroughly outplayed. The Golden Eagles tallied 17 hits to Tennessee’s eight.
Outfielders Hunter Ensley and Christian Scott showed up for Tennessee offensively. Ensley went two-of-five at the plate with a homer and four RBIs. The sophomore also made hard contact on a fly out to right field.
Christian Scott is not known for his bat but followed up a strong weekend at Arkansas with another good night at the plate. The super senior went two-of-three at the plate with a walk and Tennessee’s only other RBI hit.
But besides Ensley and Scott, the Vols were dreadful at the plate— combining to go four-of-25.
Team leading hitters Blake Burke, Jared Dickey and Zane Denton did very little at the plate. The trio combined to reach base just once in 14 plate appearances.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee returns to Lindsey Nelson Stadium Friday night for game one of its weekend series against Vanderbilt. First pitch is at 6 p.m. ET.
