Tennessee baseball took care of business in a midweek contest with Western Carolina on Tuesday night, defeating the Catamounts 12-4 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Tony Vitello used a more extended starter and Tennessee overcame a mid inning deficit with a massive fifth inning at the plate. Here’s everything to know about the Vols’ midweek win.
An Extended Outing From Dylan Loy
Dylan Loy was up and warming up in Tennessee’s bullpen when Marcus Phillips recorded the final out in Sunday’s series finale win at Kentucky.
With Loy not getting an opportunity on Sunday, Tony Vitello gave him the ball to start the midweek matchup against Western Carolina. And unlike a number of midweek games, Vitello gave Loy an extended opportunity to get outs for the Vols.
Things went very well for Loy for three innings. He retired the Catamounts lineup in order his first time through, striking out a pair and taking a perfect game into the fourth inning.
But things went haywire for Loy in the fourth inning as he faced Western Carolina’s lineup for the second time. Kyle Riesselmann hit an infield single to open the inning and then Loy walked the next batters to load the bases with no one out, marking the end of his day.
Brady Robertson and Andrew Behnke couldn’t bail Loy out as all three runs scored and Western Carolina claimed a 4-3 lead. Loy finished the game allowing one hit, two walks and three earned runs in three innings pitched.
Tennessee Takes Control In The Fifth Inning
The Vols didn’t immediately respond to Western Carolina claiming the lead in the fourth inning, but they didn’t wait too long before taking control of the game.
That came in the fifth inning when Tennessee scored six runs before the Catamounts recorded a single out. Colby Backus, making his first career start, got Tennessee going with a game tying solo home run to left field to open up the inning.
Cannon Peebles hit a bloop double and advanced to third on a Christian Moore single. Once Blake Burke worked a walk, the bases were loaded and Western Carolina starter Spenser Hamblen’s day was done.
The Vols’ bats were not done for the inning. Billy Amick drove in a pair of runs with a single up the middle and Kavares Tears launched a three-run home run to left center field to prompt another pitching change and to give Tennessee a 9-4 lead.
Tennessee used the six-run inning to reclaim the lead and take control of the game. They never looked back.
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Burke And Amick Get It Done At The Plate
Blake Burke did what he’s done all season in the midweek bout against Western Carolina— hit. The Vols’ first baseman extended his hit streak to 31 games with a two-out single in the third inning and went on to have a productive two-of-four night with a walk.
While Burke had a par the course night given his season, third baseman Billy Amick had a big night after an underwhelming series at Kentucky over the weekend.
Amick followed up Burke’s third inning single with a two-run home run to left field to open up the scoring in the game. Amick hit the single to center field that helped Tennessee put together the productive fifth inning and he capped off his day with his second home run— a three-run shot to left in the eighth inning.
The Vols’ third baseman ended his night three-of-five with two home runs and seven RBIs as he built some momentum heading into this weekend’s series against Missouri.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee returns to Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Thursday night where they’ll face Missouri in game one of the weekend series. First pitch is at 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
