After a disappointing loss to Tennessee Tech last week, Tennessee baseball left no doubt in a dominant 19-1 win over Bellarmine Tuesday night.
The Vols scored early and often while their pitching staff had a predictably strong day against an overmatched Knights’ lineup.
Here’s everything to know about the midweek matchup.
More From RTI: Where Tennessee Baseball Ranks After Sweeping Vanderbilt
A Dominant Pitching Outing
Tennessee baseball’s pitching performances in midweeks are almost always really good. The Vols have a deep and talented pitching staff and midweek opponents are usually overwhelmed by the SEC stuff on the mound.
But what the Vols’ pitchers did against Bellarmine was even better than their normal midweek performance. Nine Tennessee pitchers combined to allow just one run against the Knights while not allowing a baserunner until the seventh inning.
The Knights totaled just three hits and didn’t record one until there was one-out in the seventh inning.
Jacob Bimbi and AJ Russell were both particularly dominant on the bump. Neither allowed a baserunner while Bimbi struck out two in 1.2 innings pitched and Russell struck out two in one inning pitched.
Junior Bryce Jenkins surrendered the first hit of the game in the seventh inning but responded well retiring the next two batters to keep Bellarmine off the scoreboard. RHP JJ Garcia surrendered the lone run when Dylan Byerly took him deep to left field in the eighth inning.
A Consistent Offensive Showing
Tennessee took a one run lead in the first inning. It started a slow and steady offensive outburst as the Vols hung 19 runs on Bellarmine.
The Vols scored in the game’s first seven innings and in seven-of-eight innings. Tennessee just slowly added offensive production throughout the game and they did it in multiple ways.
Dylan Dreiling hit a solo homer in the second inning as did Jared Dickey in the fourth inning. But the Vols also scored with clutch two-out hitting and played small ball when Jake Kendro brought Dreiling home with safety squeeze.
Despite scoring 19 runs, Tennessee topped out with four runs in an inning— though they did it in three different innings.
Like they did on the mound, the Vols used an abundance of different position players and most had success with 12 different Tennessee players recording hits and 17 different Tennessee players reaching base.
Big Performance From A Trio Of Vols’ Left Handed Bats
Kansas transfer Maui Ahuna and freshman Dylan Dreiling are two of most talented bats in Tennessee’s lineup. They showed it against Bellarmine.
Ahuna started to turn the corner at the plate against Vanderbilt, especially in game two when he drove home five runs with a pair of extra base hits. The shortstop continued that success in four at-bats against the Knights.
Ahuna grounded out in the first inning but got it going from there, driving in a run with a double in the right center gap as part of a two-for-three day that included a walk.
As good as Ahuna was at the plate, Dreiling was even better. The freshman was one of the stars of Friday night’s win over Vanderbilt when he hit a game tying homer with two-outs and two strikes in the ninth inning.
Dreiling got the start Tuesday night and promptly hit a 434 foot homer in his first at-bat. His second at-bat was nearly as good as he tripled and was halfway to the cycle. The freshman only got one more at-bat and he didn’t use a hit but he did bring a run home with a sac fly to right field.
While Ahuna and Dreiling are big parts of Tennessee’s lineup, redshirt freshman Ryan Miller is not. However, Miller made the most of his opportunities once he entered the game, hitting a pair of three-run homers to right field.
Ahuna and Dreiling are two of Tennessee’s most important bats when it comes to the Vols reaching their potential. They both starred in the midweek win. Miller’s production was a nice bonus.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee’s home stand continues this weekend as the Vols host Mississippi State to Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch for the weekend series is at 7 p.m. ET Thursday night.
