Tennessee baseball is seven days away from opening up its 2025 season against Hofstra at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. That means it’s time for the Vols’ “pizza series.” The pizza series is a three-game instrasquad scrimmage that Tennessee holds the weekend before opening day every year.
RTI was in attendance at game one of the pizza series on Friday afternoon and has stats and notes from the nine innings of action.
Let’s start with a few injury notes. Ole Miss transfer Andrew Fischer did not participate in the scrimmage while catcher Cannon Peebles just served as a designated hitter. Both are dealing with arm injuries that have limited them in preseason practice.
The rosters gave us a pretty good look at what things could look like when they open up the season next week. The away team had almost all of Tennessee’s top hitters with more fringe pitchers competing for a bullpen role.
The away team had a group that largely projects as backups this season though it also had a handful of guys in the thick of competition for starting spots. But Tennessee ace Liam Doyle got the ball for the home team and following him were a pair of pitchers that project as top bullpen arms in transfers Tanner Franklin and Ryan Combs.
This was the first time I was Doyle pitch this spring and he looked just as dominant as he did the multiple times I saw him in the fall. The Ole Miss transfer allowed three baserunners but no runs in 4.1 innings pitched while striking out six. He retired eight of Tennessee’s nine batters the first time through the lineup with Ariel Antigua reaching on a hit-by pitch.
Behind Doyle, Kennesaw State transfer Tanner Franklin showed his ability to be effective as a long reliever and then Ryan Combs, the younger brother of Aaron Combs, earned the save. Ryan transferred in from junior college this offseason. While his brother had a nasty sweeper, Ryan has a strong changeup. He struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth inning and he got Reese Chapman on a check swing to end the game.
Some notes on the away lineup. Dean Curley hit in the leadoff spot with Gavin Kilen hitting in the two-hole. I really liked that duo to start things for Tennessee’s lineup but the bigger surprise was Hunter Ensley in the three-hole behind them.
Kilen had a day so similar to what I saw in the fall. Didn’t feel like he did anything spectacular and then you look up and he went 3-for-4 with three singles. Kilen and Curley alternated playing second base and shortstop in the field.
While I was surprised to see Ensley in the three-hole, he produced the only runs for the home team on a two-run opposite field homer off Franklin.
Last few notes for the away team lineup. Dalton Bargo started at catcher with Peebles DHing. Was a rough day at the plate for Bargo but he was solid behind it. Then freshman Levi Clark started at first base with freshman Jay Abernathy in left field. Clark came in as a catcher but has spent a lot of time at first base due to the lack of depth there.
Switching back to the home team and now taking a look at the lineup. Stone Lawless and Albert Osuna were the two guys that stood out. I thought Lawless was great behind the plate. He threw Kilen out when he tried to take second on a ball in the dirt and just seemed in control.
The redshirt freshman back stop also launched a two-run homer into the second deck of porches in left field off of Michael Sharman.
This was my first time watching Osuna after Tennessee added him to the roster last week. The former North Carolina slugger looked like just that on Friday. He had a single to left field and a walk at the plate. The best defensive play of the afternoon came in the first inning when Abernathy made a leaping catch at the wall to take a RBI multi-base hit away from Osuna.
A few final thoughts on the late addition. He’s a strong and stout build. GoVols247’s Ben McKee compared him to the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso as we watched the scrimmage together and I think that’s a great comparison. Not a whole lot of foot speed. He scored from first on a Manny Marin double and it was not a pretty site.
Then defense at first base is a question for Osuna but he was solid on Friday. Was unable to make a scoop on what would have been a bang-bang play at one point. But he did have a really nice scoop on a real short hop that Blake Grimmer threw him.
Freshmen Manny Marin and Chris Newstrom both had nice days at the plate for the home team. Newstrom also made a nice sliding catch with a runner on base in the eighth inning.
Lastly, criss-crossing back to the away teams pitching. JUCO transfer Michael Sharman got the start and had a rough outing, particularly the third inning. But LHP Luke Payne was dominant. He struck out the first four batters he faced and retired six of the seven batters he faced.
With that, it’s on to the stats.
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Stats
Final: White (Home) 5, Grey (Away) 2
White (Home)
Hitting
DH Colby Backus — 1/4, R, 2 K
RF Hunter High — 0/4, RBI, 2 K
C Stone Lawless — 2/3, HR, 2B, RBI, R, HBP, K
1B Alberto Osuna — 1/3, R, BB
SS Manny Marin — 2/4, RBI, RBI, 2B K
3B Blake Grimmer — 1/4, 2B, 2 K
LF Chris Newstrom — 2/4, RBI, DP, K
CF Jaxon Walker — 0/4, K
2B Dane Morrow — 1/3, 2B, BB, R, K
PH: Brennon Seigler — 0/1, K
Pitching
SP: LHP Liam Doyle – 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1HB, 6 K
RHP Tanner Franklin: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
RHP Ryan Combs: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Grey (Away)
Hitting
MIF Dean Curley — 1/4, 2B
MIF Gavin Kilen — 3/4, K, R
CF Hunter Ensley — 1/4, HR, 2 RBI, R, K
DH Cannon Peebles — 0/3, BB, K
1B Levi Clark — 1/4, 2K
C Dalton Bargo — 0/4, 3 K
RF Reese Chapman — 0/4, 2 K
3B Ariel Antigua — 1/2, K, HBP
LF Jay Abernathy — 0/3 K
Pitching
SP: LHP Michael Sharman — 3.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
RHP Tanner Wiggins — 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 HB, 4 K
LHP Luke Payne — 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
RHP Brayden Krenzel — 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
