Tennessee baseball was back at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Tuesday for a rare mid morning scrimmage due to fall break. The Vols got five innings of work in and while I missed most of the first inning while still at football media, I was able to generally able gather what happened.
It’s important to note that this was not a super formal scrimmage. Pitchers are on pitch counts and each pitcher has designated innings to throw. So there was a half inning that ended before three outs were recorded because the pitcher had hit his pitch count. Tennessee also played just five innings so freshman pitcher Stratton Scott finished one half inning for the home team while pitching a half inning for the away team.
Let’s start with true freshman Tegan Kuhns. I wasn’t able to make the scrimmage last week when he pitched but heard good things about his performance and he was really impressive on Tuesday. I missed his first inning but know he retired the side in order and struck out Colby Backus. GoVols247′ Ben McKee was also at the scrimmage and told me he overheard someone say that Kuhns struck out the side in the first inning.
Kuhs threw 2.1 shutout innings and while it’s extremely early, he looks like a real contender for a weekend starting spot next season.
I’ve talked up Hunter High a lot early this fall and while it was a relatively quiet day for him at the plate (by no means a bad one) he did make a nice read and catch on a hard hit line drive by Stone Lawless to left field.
Lawless is another second-year guy who is absolutely barreling the ball up right now. The bat has always been a plus for the catcher. I’m high on Cannon Peebles entering his second season at Tennessee but there’s real competition there.
Two other guys who had nice days at the plate were Reese Chapman and Blake Grimmer. Chapman hit a no doubt home run to right field while also working a walk and stealing second. Grimmer hit a line drive, wall scraping home run while also working a walk.
For the first time when I’ve been in attendance this fall, Dean Curley and Gavin Kilen were on the same team during a scrimmage. They alternated and played both middle infield spots. Ariel Antigua played shortstop for the other team.
One other small note, Dalton Bargo did not participate in the scrimmage. Alex Perry, High and freshman Levi Clark each got run at first base.
Here are the stats from the scrimmage.
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Home (Orange)
Jay Abernathy — 0/2, BB
Alex Perry — 1/2, RBI, SF, R
Reese Chapman — 1/2, HR, RBI, K, BB, SB, R
Stone Lawless — 1/2, 2B, R, BB
Gavin Kilen — 1/2, BB, 2 R
Dean Curley — 0/3, 2K
Hunter Ensley — 1/3, 2RBI, K
Blake Grimmer — 1/2, HR, RBI, BB, K, R
Brooks Wright — 0/1, K, HBP
Brennan Seigler — 1/1, BB, R
Pitching:
Tegan Kuhns — 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K?
Nic Abraham — 2 IP, 0 H, 0 E, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Stratton Scott — 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 E, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Away (Gray)
Hunter High — 0/1, BB
Ariel Antigua — 0/2, K
Colby Backus — 0/2, K
Cannon Peebles — 0/1, BB
Levi Clark — 0/1, BB, SB
Andrew Fischer — 0/2
Brayden Sharp — 1/2, K, SB
Dane Morrow — 1/2, 2B, K, SB
Jaxon Walker — 0/2, K
Robinson Martin — 0/1
Pitching:
Tate Strickland — 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Aidan Hayse — 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 0 K
Stratton Scott — 1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
