SCORE: Tennessee 3, Texas A&M 6 | B9

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No. 1 Tennessee baseball (28-2, 9-1 SEC) is set to battle the Texas A&M Aggies (14-15, 1-9 SEC) Saturday in game two of a three-game series and game one of a Saturday doubleheader.

First pitch at Lindsey Nelson Stadium is at 3:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network +.

Game three of the series and game two of the doubleheader will start at 7 p.m. ET OR 45 minutes after the conclusion of Saturday’s first game.

Saturday turned into a doubleheader because of the inclement weather projected on Sunday’s forecast.

SCHEDULE CHANGE: Tennessee Baseball Playing Doubleheader Against Texas A&M On Saturday

The Vols enter Saturday coming off a 10-0 run-rule series-opening win in which Tennessee recorded a combined no-hitter. Liam Doyle and Dylan Loy accomplished the feat in seven innings. Doyle was amazing in 6.0 innings and Loy finished it off with a 1-2-3 seventh.

It marked Tennessee’s fifth combined no-hitter, 10th overall in program history and second this season. The Vols no-hit St. Bonaventure in a 12-0 series-opening win in March.

Before the St. Bonaventure no-hitter, Tennessee had last recorded one in 2002 against Bowling Green. This year is the first time Tennessee has recorded multiple no-hitters in the same season since 1976.

NO-NO: BREAKING: Tennessee Baseball Records 10th No-Hitter in Program History in Run-Rule Win Over Texas A&M

DOMINANCE: What Liam Doyle Said After Throwing Combined No-Hitter For Tennessee Baseball

Before the Texas A&M series, Tennessee beat Tennessee Tech in a 7-1 midweek win. AJ Russell made his return to action in the win, tossing a scoreless first inning in an opener role.

Last weekend, Tennessee swept South Carolina on the road. Hunter Ensley and Dalton Bargo raked at the plate, Andrew Fischer had a pair of homers, and Tennessee’s pitching staff was highlighted by great performances from true freshmen Tegan Kuhns and Brayden Krenzel in a 7-2 series-sweeping finale.

Tennessee has been dominant 28 games in to the season. The Vols own two series sweeps in league play so far and five overall. UT’s only losses have come in a 7-6 extra-innings midweek thriller to ETSU and a 6-5 series-opening loss to Alabama.

Following the South Carolina series sweep, Tennessee became the consensus No. 1 team again in all five polls.

HIGHLIGHT: Ariel Antigua Makes ‘One of the Best’ Plays Tony Vitello Has Ever Seen

In the ETSU loss, star second baseman Gavin Kilen suffered a hamstring injury when an ETSU player slid into him. The star second baseman has not been in the starting lineup since and is once again not in the lineup Saturday against the Aggies.

Head coach Tony Vitello said Kilen is at “more [of a] pinch-hit status” this weekend against the Aggies.

However, Kilen did make his return to action last Saturday, getting a pinch-hit at-bat in the eighth in game two at South Carolina. Expect Kilen to get at least one at-bat this weekend. He is a game-time decision for game one of the doubleheader.

Manny Marin has been Tennessee’s primary second baseman with Kilen sidelined. Ariel Antigua has started at shortstop and Dean Curley has moved to third base in the last eight games. That remains the case Saturday.

The worst part of Tennessee’s season so far is first baseman Alberto Osuna having his injunction for another season of eligibility denied by a judge at the beginning of March.

In response, Osuna penned a letter to the NCAA requesting they make things right and grant him eligibility.

Read more about the court’s decision and its impact on Osuna HERE.

Injury/Availability Notes

• 2B Gavin Kilen is still out of the lineup with a hamstring injury. The most he will do in the Texas A&M series is pinch-hit.
• UNC transfer first baseman Alberto Osuna remains ineligible.
• Infielder Alex Perry, who was in competition to start at first base before Osuna’s arrival, left the program in January to tend to a personal matter. It remains to be seen when or if Perry will return. He is in his second season at Tennessee.

Opponent Scout

The Aggies have significantly underwhelmed so far this season. After being preseason No. 1, Texas A&M finds themselves 1-9 in SEC play and 14-15 overall. They have gotten swept by Alabama and Georgia and lost two of three games to Kentucky a week ago.

It’s tough to pinpoint why A&M has struggled so much. Gavin Grahovac’s season-ending injury and the coaching change is certainly a factor, but the Aggies have too much talent at the plate and on the mound for this season to make sense.

The Aggies are entering Saturday with their backs against the wall a bit, and they still have plenty of talent to win at least one game. While a series win is undoubtedly the expectation and a sweep very possible, expect A&M to throw its best punch in Saturday’s doubleheader.

TRANSCRIPT: Everything Tony Vitello Said After Tennessee Run-Ruled Texas A&M In Series Opener

For all of RTI’s baseball coverage so far this season, click here.

For the latest RTI Diamond Pass, discussing THREE BIG questions nine games into SEC play, click here.

VIDEO: Tony Vitello Talks No-Hitter Against Texas A&M

Lineups, pitching matchup and additional pre-game notes are below, followed by the LIVE at-bat by at-bat game thread.

TENNESSEE STARTING NINE: 

3B Dean Curley (R)

DH Dalton Bargo (L)

CF Hunter Ensley (R)

1B Andrew Fischer (L)

RF Reese Chapman (L)

2B Manny Marin (R)

LF Chris Newstrom (R)

C Stone Lawless (R)

SS Ariel Antigua (R)

Lineup Notes:

• With Gavin Kilen still out of the lineup with a hamstring, Manny Marin starts at second base.
• Ariel Antigua stays at shortstop where he has started the last eight games. Curley stays at third.
• Dalton Bargo gets the nod at DH and stays in the two-hole.
• Stone Lawless behind the plate for game two, as has been the case for most game twos of a series.
• Freshman Chris Newstrom gets the start in left field for game one of the doubleheader over Jay Abernathy.

TEXAS A&M STARTING NINE: 

RF Terrence Kiel II (R)

CF Jace LaViolette (L)

3B Wyatt Henseler (R)

DH Caden Sorrell (L)

C Bear Harrison (R)

SS Kaeden Kent (L)

1B Blake Binderup (R)

2B Ben Royo (R)

LF Sawyer Farr (S)

Pitching Matchup:

Vols Jr. RHP Marcus Phillips (2-0, 2.02 ERA, 7 app., 7 starts, 1 CGSO, 35.2 IP, 24 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 9 BB, 42 K, 6 XBH, .186 opp. batting avg., 0.93 WHIP)

vs.

Aggies Jr. LHP Justin Lamkin (1-3, 3.76 ERA, 7 app., 7 starts, 402. IP, 36 H, 20 R, 17 ER, 10 BB, 49 K, 12 XBH, .235 opp. batting avg., 1.13 WHIP)

Pitching notes:

• Phillips remains in his day two role. Coming off a really solid start at South Carolina (5 H, 3 R, 7 K in 5.0 IP)
• Lamkin has been good this year but is coming off by far his worst outing of the season against Kentucky (6 H, 7 ER, 2 HR, 4 HBP, 2 BB, in 5.0 IP)
  • Before that, Lamkin had given up four combined runs across 12.0 innings in starts against Vanderbilt and Alabama.

Uniforms

Tennessee: Orange hats, orange shirts, white pants

Texas A&M: Maroon hats, maroon shirts, grey pants

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*NOTES*

• The run-rule is MANDATORY in SEC play. If Tennessee or Texas A&M leads by 10 or more runs after the seventh inning, the game is over.

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GAME THREAD

1st Inning: 

T1

-Terrence Kiel II flies out to centerfield.

-Jace LaViolette strikes out swinging on a 98 mph fastball

-Wyatt Henseler strikes out swinging.

B1

-Dean Curley strikes out looking.

-Dalton Bargo homers to left field.

-Hunter Ensley grounds out to shortstop.

-Andrew Fischer lines out to first base

Score: Vols 1, Aggies 0

2nd Inning: 

T2

-Caden Sorrell homers to left field.

-Bear Harrison flies out to right field.

-Kaeden Kent grounds out to second base.

-Blake Binderup strikes out swinging.

B2

-Reese Chapman flies out to left field.

-Manny Marin pops out to first base.

-Chris Newstrom singles to left field and advances to second on a fielding error.

-Stone Lawless singles to left field. The third baseman was in Chris Newstrom’s way and the two run into one another. Interference is the call and Newstrom scores.

Lawless is caught stealing. Pick off went to first and Lawless ran to second. Throw to the shortstop beat him easily.

Score: Vols 2, Aggies 1

3rd Inning: 

T3

-Ben Royo grounds out to third base.

-Sawyer Farr strikes out swinging.

-Kiel singles to the catcher (swinging bunt)

Kiel steals second.

-LaViolette walks.

Runners advances to second and third on a double steal

-Henseler flies out to right-center field

B3

-Ariel Antigua singles to left field.

-Curley pops out to first base.

-Bargo grounds out to second base. Very nice play by Ben Royo.

-Ensley grounds out to third base.

Score: Vols 2, Aggies 1

4th Inning: 

T4

-Sorrell grounds out to first base.

-Harrison homers to left field.

-Kent flies out to center field.

-Binderup strikes out swinging.

B4

-Fischer hits a high fly ball to right field. Looked like a no doubt home run. Wind knocked it down and Terrence Kiel robbed it over the wall. Trackman had it going 366 feet.

-Chapman reaches on a throwing error by the shortstop.

-Marin flies out to right field.

-Newstrom singles to left field. Chapman advances to third and Newstrom advances to second on the throw to second.

-Lawless strikes out looking.

Score: Vols 2, Aggies 2

5th Inning: 

T5

-Royo strikes out swinging.

-Farr grounds out to first base (3-1)

-Kiel singles to left field.

Kiel steals second.

-LaViolette homers into the Tennessee bullpen. Kiel and LaViolette score.

-Henseler is hit-by a pitch.

LHP Dylan Loy (4-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.37 WHIP, 13.2 IP) is coming in to pitch for Tennessee

-Sorrell strikes out swinging

B5

-Antigua flies out to right field.

-Curley singles to left field.

-Bargo grounds out to first. Curley is safe at second, knocking the ball out of Kaeden Kent’s glove.

-Ensley singles to right field, driving Curley home.

-Fischer walks. Ensley advances to second.

-Chapman is hit-by a pitch to load the bases.

-Marin flies out to center field.

Score: Vols 3, Aggies 4

6th Inning: 

T6

RHP Nate Snead (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 26 IP) is in to pitch for Tennessee

-Harrison singles to left field.

Harrison advances to second on a wild pitch.

-Kent strikes out swinging

Harrison steals third.

-Binderup walks.

-Royo strikes out looking.

Hayden Schott pinch hits for Sawyer

-Schott strikes out swinging but reaches first on a dropped third strike. Harrison scores and Binderup advances to second.

Jamal George pinch runs for Schott

-Kiel grounds out to shortstop.

B6

-Newstrom flies out to centerfield.

-Lawless strikes out swinging.

-Antigua grounds out to shortstop.

Score: Vols 3, Aggies 5

7th Inning: 

T7

-LaViollete pops out to second base.

-Henseler flies out to center field.

-Sorrell homers to right field.

-Harrison singles to left field.

-Kent singles to left field. Harrison advances to second.

-Binderup grounds out to second base.

B7

RHP Weston Moss (3-2, 2.10 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 25.2 IP) is in to pitch for Texas A&M

-Curley grounds out.

-Bargo flies out to center field.

-Ensley grounds out to the pitcher.

Score: Vols 3, Aggies 6

8th Inning: 

T8

Cannon Peebles is in to catch for Tennessee

-Royo walks.

Royo advances to second base on an errant pickoff attempt.

-George reaches on a bunt single. Royo advances to third.

-Kiel hits a ground rule double to left-center field. Royo scores. George reaches third.

LHP Brandon Arvidson (2-0, 4.26 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 12.2 IP) is coming in to pitch for Snead.

-LaViolette strikes out swinging.

-Henseler reaches on a Dean Curley throwing error. Curley’s throw went out of play. George and Kiel both score. Henseler reaches second.

-Sorrell strikes out swinging.

-Harrison pops out to first.

B8

-Fischer reaches on an infield single.

-Chapman strikes out looking.

-Marin pops out to second base.

Jay Abernathy pinch hits for Chris Newstrom

-Abernathy lines out to shortstop.

Score: Vols 3, Aggies 9

9th Inning: 

T9

-Kent bunts out to the pitcher.

-Binderup strikes out swinging.

-Royo strikes out swinging.

B9

-Peebles strikes out looking.

Blake Grimmer pinch hits for Antigua

-Grimmer singles to centerfield.

-Curley strikes out swinging.

Grimmer reaches second on a wild pitch.

-Bargo strikes out looking.

Score: Vols 3, Aggies 9

FINAL: Tennessee Vols 3, Texas A&M Aggies 9