There’s officially a new college baseball record holder in Knoxville, Tennessee.
On Sunday afternoon, during Tennessee’s game against Auburn, Tennessee relief pitcher Ben Joyce threw the fastest pitch in college baseball history. While dealing to the Tigers on the mound in the seventh inning in front of a roaring Tennessee crowd, Joyce hauled back and fired a 105.5 mile per hour fastball. The statistic comes from Tennessee’s YakkerTrack data.
Absolute filth from Ben Joyce. According to our YakkerTrack data, Ben Joyce threw a pitch 105.5 mph in that inning. 🤯
📺 https://t.co/WMXSwVCK1W#GBO // #OTH // #BeatAuburn pic.twitter.com/AzBeGEbkB1
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) May 1, 2022
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When Joyce returned to the mound in the eighth inning, ESPN’s broadcast flashed the announcement that Joyce’s pitch was officially a college baseball record-beater.
excuse me? pic.twitter.com/JiENFcINIR
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 1, 2022
Tony Vitello just said the Stalker gun – which is usually the most accurate radar gun they have – clocked Ben Joyce in at 105mph. #Vols
— Madison Hock (@MadisonHock) May 1, 2022
Joyce recorded four full innings of work on the mound on Sunday in relief of starting pitcher Drew Beam.
The redshirt-junior pitcher was in command, only allowing one hit over the final four frames of the game in Knoxville. In addition, Joyce also struck out six batters and did not allow a walk.
Joyce has been garnering quite a bit of attention all season long with a fastball that routinely stays in the triple-digit range. When Joyce is at his best though is when he can catch batters off-guard with well-placed and well timed off-speed pitches, like on Sunday.
In Kiley McDaniel’s most recent MLB Draft preview for ESPN last week, McDaniel specifically noted Tennessee’s Ben Joyce as a player that is making noise a few months ahead of the draft in July.
“One of the other stories of this draft is Tennessee rocket-armed reliever Ben Joyce, who is regularly sitting at 100 mph,” McDaniel wrote. “Given that Arkansas RHP Kevin Kopps, a lesser prospect, went 99th overall last year, Joyce should go ahead of that, but he comes with an injury history and command/consistency questions. Most scouts are guessing late second or early third round for Joyce, which is close to the ceiling for a relief-only prospect.”
Joyce has proven again and again that he has one of the most electric arms in the league all season. However, after his performance on Sunday, Tennessee pitcher Ben Joyce now has a college baseball record to go along with that claim.
Tennessee defeated Auburn by a score of 17-4 on Friday night but lost to the Tigers by a score of 8-6 on Saturday night. Behind the arms of Drew Beam and Ben Joyce, Tennessee was able to win the series on Sunday with a 5-3 victory in Knoxville.
Ben Joyce's 105.5 MPH Fastball. pic.twitter.com/4a2R8iMw1A
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 1, 2022
Official velocity numbers on Ben Joyce's day from Tennessee's YakkerTracker system.
28 pitches 103 mph or higher
15 pitches 104 mph or higher
3 pitches 105 mph or higherJoyce threw 33 fastballs.https://t.co/9sHPIvuFD6
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) May 1, 2022
