Tennessee baseball was back at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Wednesday evening for a nine inning intrasquad scrimmage as fall practice starts to wind down.
It was a long afternoon for Tennessee and it was heavy on situational action. Tennessee frequently started innings with runners on base, would put runners on third during half inning, would change the outs in an inning to create a situation. Tony Vitello would change the lineup in the middle of the scrimmage to create certain matchups. For instance, Hunter Ensley had at-bats for both teams during the scrimmage.
Because of that, I didn’t include pitching stats at the bottom nor did I include runs or stolen bases for hitters. Because of that, let’s start with the pitchers. It wasn’t a big name day on the mound.
Tennessee used seven pitches on Wednesday: Aidan Hayse, Tate Strickland, Andrew Behnke, Ashton Sullack, Stratton Scott, Dane Bjorn and Austin Breedlove.
Each had their moments including Behnke who after being a bit shaky in his first inning, retired the next six batters he faced and struck out the side in one inning. Hayse had two strong innings pitched while Stratton Scott struck out five batters in three innings pitched. He got hit around a bit in one inning but was really good outside of that.
Redshirt freshman and Farragut standout Ashton Sullack had his best outing I’ve seen so far this fall. He pitched two innings and allowed only one infield hit while posting a pair of zeroes despite a runner starting on base one inning.
In the field, Alex Perry continues to work at first base and made one really nice play on a 3-6 double play. Hunter High made a great play in right field to throw Stone Lawless out at second as he tried to stretch a single to a double.
One interesting note from the last two days, talented freshman infielder Manny Marin has worked In the outfield. Just a week after Tony Vitello said they have no plans to play him there, Marin has played in both left and center field and has looked pretty dang good doing it. Him getting work in the outfield speaks to how good his bat has been. There’s little path to playing time in the infield but there is in the outfield.
At the plate, Stone Lawless raked on Wednesday and continues to look like a real player to start at designated hitter on top of getting some opportunities at catcher. Dane Morrow hit his second grand slam of fall practice. With that, it’s on to the hitting stats.
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Home (Orange)
Stone Lawless — 3/4, 2 RBI, SF
Cannon Peebles — 1/4, 2B, RBI, 2 K
Alex Perry — 1/4, 2B, 2 RBI, SF
Gavin Kilen — 0/3, RBI, SF, K
Dean Curley — 0/3, RBI, BB, K
Brayden Sharp — 1/3
Manny Marin — 0/1, RBI, SF, BB
Jay Abernathy — 0/3, K
Hunter Ensley — 1/3, RBI, K
Brennon Seigler — 0/3, K
Away (Black)
Colby Backus — 1-1, 2B, SF, BB, 2 RBIs
Reese Chapman — 1-2, HBP, K
Levi Clark — 2/3
Blake Grimmer — 1/3
Hunter High — 0/4, RBI, K GIDP
Chris Newstrom — 1/3, 2B, RBI, 2K
Dane Morrow — 0/3, K
Brooks Wright — 1-4, HR, 4 RBI, 3 K
Holden Brauner — 0-1, BB, HBP, RBI
Jaxon Walker — 0-2, K
Robinson Martin — 0-1, BB, K
