Tennessee baseball is 7-0 through the first two weekends of the 2025 season. The Vols have swept Hofstra and Samford in weekend series while also picking up a midweek win over UNC Asheville.
Several Vols have left the yard while a multitude of arms have looked good to start the season.
Here are some numbers to know through the first two weekends of Tennessee’s season.
25
Liam Doyle’s number of strikeouts through two starts. Doyle tallied 11 Ks on opening day against Hofstra then 14 against Samford. Doyle has reached a quarter of 100 strikeouts in just 10.1 innings and 139 pitches. Over 80 percent of Doyle’s outs have been strikeouts, a ridiculous ratio.
The Ole Miss transfer is averaging 12.5 strikeouts per game. With Doyle projected to start 14 games this season, that would equal 175 strikeouts for the hard-throwing lefty in the regular season. Luke Hochevar currently holds the UT single-season strikeout record with 154, averaging just over eight a game in 19 appearances.
Give Doyle 19 games like Hochevar had in 2005, he’s on pace to tally nearly 240 strikeouts (237.5) this year.
Naturally, competition will get tougher and Doyle’s strikeout numbers won’t be as astronomical, but the New Hampshire native looks tremendous two starts into the season, and strikeouts are his specialty.
20
The number of home runs Tennessee has hit this season. The stat Tennessee baseball fans have come to love.
Tennessee’s 20 bombs have come from 11 different players with three – Dean Curley, Levi Clark and Dalton Bargo – tying for the team lead with three.
Clark is the name to note here. The true freshman has left the yard on three of his 13 at-bats, giving him a 23 percent chance to homer any time he records an at-bat. Clark also leads Tennessee with a .538 batting average.
Two of Clark’s home runs have come in pinch-hit situations, the first of which was a go-ahead grand slam in a tie game vs. Samford.
Clark is emerging as a real threat for Tennessee and figures to see consistent playing time moving forward.
“He’s a guy who could easily come up to the office [and ask to start],” head coach Tony Vitello said. “If you look at some of the numbers we keep in practice, his scores or his numbers were very high from September until now, and they continue to be. That’s because, I mean he’s a super kid off the field, and then he’s got the little switch where kind of like [Dean] Curley last year, I thought we were getting a boy scout, but on game day that seems to convert into a guy that’s pretty damn competitive.
More From RTI: Everything Tony Vitello Said After Tennessee Baseball Finished Sweeping Samford
“He’s got that edge to him, too, on game day, and he’s as strong as any of the guys we have, as you saw yesterday. What more of him is? I don’t know, because I think he’s played in each game in some capacity, and if that’s not the case, it’s going to be pretty close from now until the end of the year. So, just need to find the right combination, and one day may be different than another.”
98-11
Tennessee has outscored opponents 98-11 this season, a staggering gap.
The Vols’ 29-4 midweek win over UNC Asheville heavily impacts the 98 number, but 11 allowed runs is the more significant takeaway.
Tennessee is allowing just 1.57 runs per game, as the Vols’ pitching staff has looked excellent seven games into the season. Doyle’s first two games lead the way for Tennessee, but relievers Tanner Franklin, Ryan Combs and Austin Hunley have all excelled as well, giving up no runs in 11 combined innings.
Starter Marcus Phillips and righty Nate Snead are off to good starts, too, giving up five hits and two earned runs combined.
Like 2023, Tennessee’s pitching staff will be its strength. If the offense can be close to what 2022 or 2024 was, the Vols will be sure-fire College World Series favorites once again.
More Intriguing stats:
13 – Tennessee has recorded 13 straight non-conference series sweeps in the regular season. The streak will likely stay alive in the 2025 season as the lone non-conference series left on the schedule is St. Bonaventure.
69 – A nice number of walks drawn by Tennessee’s hitters this season. Andrew Fischer leads the way with 11, who also leads all regular starters with a .621 on-base percentage. Gavin Kilen is second with 10 walks, a large number given the fact he had just seven in 2024 at Louisville.
4 – The amount of grand slams from Tennessee so far this season. The Vols are well on-pace to break the program and SEC record of 12 grand slams in a season, which was set by last year’s Tennessee team. UT is also on-pace to break the NCAA single-season record of 14 grand slams set by Arizona State in 2003. Hunter Ensley, Reese Chapman, Levi Clark and Dalton Bargo have each recorded a grand slam.
