Tennessee baseball wasn’t at its best but did enough to outlast Austin Peay for a 9-4 win at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Vols pitchers uncharacteristically struggled to find the strike zone while catcher Charlie Taylor provided the biggest play of the game for Tennessee.
Here’s what you need to know about Tennessee’s bounce back win.
Charlie Taylor Breaks The Game Open
Tennessee catcher Charlie Taylor has fallen out of the weekend role he had earlier in the season but is still a staple of Tuesday night’s at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The junior had a strong game in the Vols’ penultimate midweek matchup of the season including the biggest hit of the game.
Tennessee’s offense wasn’t non existent but also wasn’t overly productive for the first 2.2 innings of the game. That changed when Christian Scott worked a two-out walk to load the bases in the third inning. Taylor was ready to hit, homering the first pitch he saw off the batter’s eye in center field for a 410 foot grand slam.
The timely home run extended Tennessee’s lead to 6-1, nearly insurmountable for any midweek opponent, and relieved the pressure off a pitching staff that wasn’t performing at its best.
It was Taylor’s first career grand slam and third career homer. The homer came in Taylor’s second at-bat but the junior catcher was solid at the plate besides that. Taylor ended the game one-of-two with a pair of walks.
More From RTI: Play-By-Play Of Tennessee Baseball’s Win Over Austin Peay
Walks Plague The Vols
Tennessee’s pitching staff thrives at throwing strikes and not giving out free passes. It’s been that way ever since pitching coach Frank Anderson left Houston to join Tony Vitello’s staff six years ago.
That strategy has been largely effective for Tennessee over the years and especially against midweek opponents as the Vols’ arms can overpower inferior opponents. But Tennessee couldn’t find the strike zone consistently against the Governors.
The Vols walked a season-high 10 batters including three with the bases loaded in an ugly sixth inning that saw Austin Peay cut Tennessee’s lead from five to two runs.
Six different Tennessee pitchers surrendered walks with Bryce Jenkins leading the way with four free passes and Andrew Behnke surrendered a pair of walks.
The walks didn’t cost Tennessee against Austin Peay Tuesday night but they surely infuriated Anderson and led to an ugly night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
A Sixth Inning Brouhaha
There was a little bit of midweek drama at Lindsey Nelson Stadium as a play at the plate led to a momentary and brief clearing of the benches.
Blake Burke was at first with two-outs in the sixth inning when Christian Moore doubled in the right center gap. The throw beat Burke home and the first basemen slid hard, but cleanly, into home plate. Austin Peay catcher Gus Freeman held onto the ball through the contact for the final out and Austin Peay pitcher Paul Rector barked at Burke.
The jawing led to both teams coming out of the dugouts with the Vols led by coach Tony Vitello. Vitello helped de-escalate the situation by standing between the two teams. However, there was still plenty of talking as players from both teams yelled at one another.
The first base umpire originally ejected Tennessee outfielder Hunter Ensley after he was one of many to come out of the dugout and yell the Govs. But after the replay, Ensley was not ejected and remained in left field.
Rector was the only player on either team that received an ejection for the altercation.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee stays in Knoxville this weekend for its final SEC home series of the season. First pitch between the Vols and Kentucky is at 6:30 p.m. ET Friday night.
