Tennessee baseball completed the weekend sweep of St. Bonaventure with a 13-2 run-rule victory on Sunday afternoon. The Vols improved to 16-0 with the win, marking the best start to a season in program history.
Here’s three quick takeaways on how Tennessee got it done.
Tennessee Breaks The Game Open With Big Third Inning
Tennessee had one baserunner reach in both the first and second innings but couldn’t capitalize on it with runs. But after the Bonnies took the lead in the top of the third inning, the Vols responded with a seven-run inning to run starter David James and take control of the game.
The Vols went right to work, loading the bases with Dalton Bargo and Gavin Kilen walking around a Dean Curley single. Bargo scored on a wild pitch, Andrew Fischer drove a run home with a sacrifice fly and Levi Clark hit a two-run opposite field home run.
Those four runs were good enough for a strong inning either way. But Tennessee wasn’t done. The Vols scored three more all with two outs. Manny Marin reached on an infield single, stole second and scored Jay Abernathy drove home a run with a single to center field and then Stone Lawless annihilated a two-run homer 400 feet to left-center field.
The big inning saw Tennessee take a 7-1 lead that essentially let them coast to the finish line.
A Couple Pitching Notes On A Johnny Wholestaff Day
After losing two innings to the run-rule on Saturday, Tony Vitello took Johnny Wholestaff to a whole new level in Sunday’s series finale. Opener Tanner Franklin threw just one inning against St. Bonaventure while nine total Tennessee pitchers threw in the seven inning run-rule.
Dylan Loy made his weekend debut with a runner on second and one-out in the fourth inning. The lefty promptly struck out the first two batters he faced to end the inning.
Loy, who has pitched five times now this season, has yet to allow a run in 5.1 innings pitched. The sophomore has allowed only one baserunner while striking out 10 batters. He’s also come in the game in a number of tricky spots with runners on base like he did on Sunday.
Vitello has also called upon Austin Hunley to pitch in a number of jams this season. After a poor outing on Tuesday, Hunley entered in the sixth inning with one-on and no one out. Hunley made life a little more difficult on himself by allowing two runners to reach base and load the bases with one out.
But Hunley worked out of the jam with a fly out to shallow left and a can of corn to center field to exit the inning unscathed. At that point, Tennessee’s lead was 7-2 and the Bonnies were one swing of the bat away from making things interesting.
RHP Brayden Krenzel came into the game with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning and got out of the jam with a groundout to third base. It was a good showing in a limited but high pressure spot for Krenzel.
More From RTI: Everything Tony Vitello Said After Tennessee Baseball Clinched the Series Against St. Bonaventure
Big Day For Tennessee’s Freshman Bats
Tennessee baseball started three true freshmen and another redshirt freshman in its series finale against St. Bonaventure.
Levi Clark hit in the clean-up spot for the first time in his career and hit the two-run homer previously mentioned in the third inning. It was his sixth home run and 10th extra-base hit of his first 16 collegiate games. On top of his opposite field homer, Clark walked twice.
Manny Marin started at third base for the second straight day and built off Saturday’s strong performance with another good game, hitting one-for-three with a stolen base and another fly out to the warning track.
Jay Abernathy, making his first career start in center field, made stuff happen as he often seems to do. The left-handed hitter totaled two hits, a walk and stole a base.
Lawless was the redshirt freshman in the lineup. Making his first start of the weekend, Lawless bashed the third inning home run and then sent everybody home early with a two-run homer to left field to enact the run-rule in the seventh inning.
Chris Newstrom didn’t start for Tennessee but he made the most of his two at-bats off the bench, powering a three-run homer off the batter’s eye in center field.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee baseball is back in action on Tuesday afternoon for its final game before the start of SEC play. First pitch between the Vols and West Georgia is at 4:30 p.m. ET and the SEC Network is streaming the game.
