Tennessee Baseball Fall Scrimmage Notes And Stats: Oct. 1

The defending National Champion Tennessee baseball team held its second fall scrimmage on Tuesday afternoon after beginning fall practice late last week.

It was a 6 inning scrimmage and 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 were two half innings that ended before three outs were recorded because the pitcher had hit his pitch count. They also didn’t play a bottom of the sixth inning for the same reason. Each team also had 11 batters in its lineup instead of nine. So while the grey (away) team technically won 8-2, that’s not really a completely accurate characterization of what happened.

I noted Hunter High having a big day yesterday and he turned in another strong day Tuesday. High went two-for-two with a pair of doubles. The sophomore mostly played in the infield last season but got some run in left field during Tuesday’s scrimmage. Entering the fall, the left field battle is the most interesting positional battle to me. High being an option there is a good sign as he starts the fall fast.

Speaking of the outfield, junior Reese Chapman provided one of the big swings of practice when he took redshirt freshman Ashton Sulack deep to right field off of the top of the video board.

The other big  swing of practice came when freshman Brooks Wright hit a grand slam that cleared all three porches in left field. It was an absolute bomb from the Knoxville native. Wright was a high school catcher at Bearden High School but was a designated hitter on Tuesday.

I wrote about Ole Miss transfer Andrew Fischer’s big day on Monday and Louisville transfer Gavin Kilen followed it up with a big scrimmage on Tuesday. The infielder went two-for-two with a pair of RBI singles. Through two scrimmages, Kilen is three-of-four at the plate. Kilen worked at shortstop during the scrimmage.

On the other team it was sophomore Dean Curley working at shortstop and Ariel Antigua at second base. Antigua is off to a nice start at the plate this fall and is now three-of-four with a double off the wall. He hit well last fall too before suffering the preseason hand injury and struggling badly in the season.

Some other small positional notes. Cannon Peebles spent the day DHing while Stone Lawless, Dalton Bargo and freshmen Levi Clark and Chris Newstrom all got work behind the plate. Newstrom and Lawless each caught a player stealing.

Freshman outfielder Jay Abernathy (or Arnold Abernathy. He goes by both names) showed off his speed again with a perfect bunt single.

Here are the complete stats from the scrimmage.

More From RTI: Notes And Stats From Tennessee Baseball’s First Fall Scrimmage

Home (Orange)

Blake Grimmer — 1/2, R

Brayden Sharp — 1/2, SB, R, reached on fielder’s choice

Levi Clark — 0/1, reached on catcher’s interference, CS

Gavin Kilen — 2/2, 2 RBIs

Colby Backus — 0/2, 2K

Alex Perry — 1/2, CS

Jaxon Walker — 0/2, K

Manuelle Marin — 1/2

Cannon Peebles — 0/2, K

Hunter Ensley — 1/2

Chris Newstrom — 0/2, 2K

Robinson Martin — 0/2

Pitching:

RHP Austin Breedlove — 1.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

LHP Brayden May — 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

LHP Ashton Sulack — 1.1 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 K

Away (Gray)