Tennessee baseball faced off with Western Kentucky in a 14 inning exhibition game on Friday night at First Horizon Park in Nashville.
The Vols earned a 16-6 victory throwing nine different pitchers while using nearly every hitter on the traveling roster in the 14 innings of action.
Here’s five takeaways on what I saw from the Vols.
More From RTI:Box Score, Play-By-Play: Tennessee Baseball vs. Western Kentucky In Fall Exhibition
Liam Doyle Keeps Looking Like A SEC Ace
Ole Miss transfer pitcher Liam Doyle pitched in the Vols’ first scrimmage this fall. He was dominant that day and has been nearly every time out since.
Doyle got the start against Western Kentucky and was dominant in two innings pitched. He allowed just one hit and no runs while striking out four Hilltoppers. He had good command of his fastball and was giving Western Kentucky fits with his slider.
Doyle was a weekend starter at Ole Miss last season and was almost certainly going to be a weekend starter for the Vols after transferring in this summer. But a month in to fall practice, he looks like a dominant Friday night starter.
Jay Abernathy Pacing Ahead Of Talented Freshman Class
Tennessee signed the top class in the country last season so I’m not exactly stepping out onto a ledge to say that the Vols have a bunch of talented freshman hitters who are going to be really good players in time.
But Jay Abernathy is pacing ahead of that group so far. A high school middle infielder whose best path to the field this season is in left field, Abernathy started at designated hitter for Tennessee and went two-for-four with a sac fly, double, walk, stolen base and two runs over the course of six at-bats in the exhibition.
“Jay (Abernathy) has been good,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said following the exhibition. “He’s really athletic in the box and tried to show off the bunt skills a little bit. But he competed with two strikes and had a couple at-bats where he struck the ball early. Getting to the point that he’s a very well rounded hitter. He’s got some fight in him for a younger kid. He didn’t seem to be too worried about all the fans that were here or the fact that we were finally playing another team.”
Boasting incredible speed, Abernathy hit in the leadoff spot and does have the leadoff qualities that Tennessee hasn’t had in recent years. Manny Marin is another freshman that looks fantastic but the middle infield is so crowded it’s tough to see his path to the field this season.
In a talented freshman class, Abernathy is currently pacing ahead.
Good And Bad From Returning Pitchers Looking To Ascend
There’s a class of three Tennessee pitchers that I’ve been lumping together this fall. Dylan Loy, Marcus Phillips and Andrew Behnke were all fringe bullpen pieces for Tennessee last season, pitching meaningful innings over the course of the season but not every weekend.
Tennessee needs at least two if not all three of these guys to step up into a bigger role this season and be reliable. The results were mixed against Western Kentucky.
Phillips struggled, failing to make it out of the one inning he pitched. It was the same issues that plagued the flame thrower last season as Phillips walked three batters to go along with two hits while allowing two runs (one earned) in 0.2 innings pitched. It wasn’t disastrous. There was a swinging bunt for a hit and an error behind him but the walks were a real black eye.
But lefty Andrew Behnke came in behind him and got out of a jam in the third inning before creating a jam of his own in the fourth inning with the first two batters reaching. The Middle Tennessee native escaped the jam unscathed and looked good against Western Kentucky.
Dylan Loy, the final pitcher in that group, did not pitch and will go against Troy on Sunday.
Left Handed Bats In Middle Of Lineup Keep Impressing
Tennessee is once again heavy on left-handed hitting and that included the middle of the lineup against Western Kentucky where Ole Miss transfer Andrew Fischer hit in the three-hole and Cannon Peebles hit in the five-hole.
Both had great nights at the plate. Fischer went two-of-four with a walk and a monster home run. Cannon Peebles went two-of-four with a walk, double and two RBIs.
Fischer and Peebles have been perhaps Tennessee’s two best bats in fall ball to date. That remained the case against Western Kentucky.
Mostly Good, Little Bit Of Bad From Corner Infield Defense
Tennessee’s corner infield defense is going to be a question mark this season. Ole Miss moved Andrew Fischer to designated hitter by the end of the season last year at Ole Miss while Tennessee doesn’t have a true first baseman. Dalton Bargo can play there though he’s currently injured and middle infielder Alex Perry has been working there almost exclusively.
Fischer was really solid defensively against Western Kentucky including one inning where he made two really impressive plays.
“That one inning where he made two plays was outstanding,” Vitello said. “But there were two plays in one inning that were not easy. And not only did he make him, but he kind of made it look like a pro making them. So I think he had like a two-day patch, where it wasn’t great over there, but every other day has been really encouraging.”
Perry was solid at first base. He had one error on what should have been an 8-3 double play and he also dropped a pop fly in shallow right field. But his athleticism is what got him in place to potentially make the play and it was still a very tough catch so hard to knock him for it.
Other than that, Perry was solid at first base including a couple nice plays.
