It was a Saturday evening at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. But it felt like a classic Friday night SEC pitcher’s duel as Drew Beam and Luke Holman went at it.
It was both team’s best starting pitcher against each other. Holman was more dominant but Beam gritted his way deeper in the game and came consistently came through as Tennessee knocked off LSU 3-1 to clinch the weekend series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Here’s how the Vols got it done.
Drew Beam Works Around Traffic
Drew Beam’s second pitch of the game was lined into left field for a one-out single. The Vols’ Saturday starter almost exclusively worked with runners on base the rest of the night.
LSU’s leadoff runner reached base the next four innings after the first as the Tigers kept the pressure on Beam all night. But the right-handed pitcher did a fantastic job working around damage as he allowed just one unearned run on 11 baserunners in 6.2 innings pitched. He tied his career-high 106 total pitches.
The Tigers lone run off Beam came in the second inning. Steven Milam laid down a sac bunt with runners on first and second and no one out. Billy Amick threw it into right field allowing a run to score. Still in a jam, Beam struck out the next two batters and got a ground ball to get out of the inning. The latter two at-bats came against Tiger stars Jared Jones and Tommy White.
In the third inning, Beam got a ground ball that should have been a double play but ended up only being a fielder’s choice. No worries. After another LSU single, Beam got a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning. In the fifth inning, Dean Curley helped his pitched out making a great play deep in the hole to get out of the inning and strand a runner in-scoring position.
It wasn’t the prettiest outing from Beam but it was highly effective as he kept Tennessee in the fight and exited with the Vols’ leading.
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Luke Holman Deals For LSU
Tennessee baseball heavily pursued Alabama transfer Luke Holman in the portal this summer and finished runner up to LSU for him.
He turned in a gem against Tennessee on Saturday night. He carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and exited with two outs and two-on. Those became earned runs for him as Griffin Herring couldn’t get out of the inning. Still, the Tigers’ top arm struck out four batters and allowed just five baserunners in 5.2 innings pitched.
Holman’s off-speed pitches were fantastic and he kept Tennessee’s batters guessing all night while consistently getting ahead in counts.
The Vols best chance to get Holman came in the second inning when they put runners on second and third with one-out. Holman proceeded to strikeout Dalton Bargo and then won a long battle with Hunter Ensley to get out of the inning.
Tennessee made some hard contact for outs in the first inning and Holman walked a pair in the second inning but once he got out of the jam he got into a rhythm until the seventh inning. The transfer showed why Tennessee wanted him so badly this summer.
Dylan Dreiling. Clutch Again.
Tennessee outfielder Dylan Dreiling showed us he was clutch in our first meaningful glimpses of him last season as fringe starter as a true freshman. He’s showed it time-and-time again in his sophomore season and did it again versus the Tigers.
When Christian Moore hit a 116 mph liner right at the left fielder for out number one in the sixth inning, Holman still had a no hitter.
But then Tennessee caught a break with Burke reaching base on a lightly hit infield single. Then Billy Amick roped a double to left field and the Vols had runners on second and third with one-out. Holman sat Kavares Tears down with a nasty 3-2 backdoor breaking ball for out number two.
That’s when LSU coach Jay Johnson made the questionable decision to turn to standout left-handed pitcher Griffin Herring.
The left-handed Dreiling has hit lefties well all season and he roped the first pitch he saw right up the middle for a go-ahead two-RBI single. It was a great piece of hitting as Dreiling extended his team-best 44 RBIs and gave Tennessee a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee and LSU conclude their weekend series at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon. The SEC Network is broadcasting the game.
