Tennessee baseball’s Liam Doyle and Dylan Loy combined to throw the 10th no-hitter and the fifth combined no-hitter in program history on Friday night as the Vols’ run-ruled Texas A&M 10-0 in seven innings at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday night.
Here’s how Doyle and Loy got it done on the mound and the Vols’ got it done at the plate to rout Texas A&M to open the weekend series.
Liam Doyle Leads The Way For Tennessee’s Second No-Hitter This Season
For the second time this season, Liam Doyle led the way for Tennessee baseball in a combined no-hitter effort.
The left-handed ace had struggled in recent outings, but bounced back in a major way against Texas A&M. Doyle struck out eight batters while allowing zero runs and recording 18 of the 21 outs in the combined no hitter.
Just five total batters reached against Doyle with one reaching on a a second inning fielding error. Texas A&M twice threatened against Doyle with a walk followed by a hit-by pitch. Doyle got out of it the same way— with a grounder to second. In the fourth inning it was for a fielder’s choice then in the sixth inning it was a 4-6-3 double play.
At times Doyle has struggled to consistently find the strike zone this season which has led to his pitch count climbing and an inability to get deeper into games. Doyle limited that issue against the Aggies, throwing 58 strikes on 96 pitches.
Dylan Loy relieved Doyle to open the seventh inning and retired the side in order with a pair of ground outs and a fly out.
Andrew Fischer’s Long Balls Spark Tennessee’s Offense
Texas A&M ace Ryan Prager was dominant against Tennessee in game one of the College World Series final series last season. He picked up right where he left off in Friday night’s series opener, retiring the Vols in order in the first inning.
But Andrew Fischer snapped him out of his rhythm to lead off the second inning. Fischer clobbered an 0-1 breaking ball over the right field wall to open the scoring. He wasn’t done either.
The left-handed slugger came to the plate in the third inning with two-on and two-outs. He roped the first pitch he saw and it stayed high enough just long enough to get over the right field wall. The three-run shot gave Tennessee an early and commanding 4-0 lead.
Prager won the third battle against Fischer, striking him out in the fifth inning. The Aggies’ ace allowed six runs and four of them came off of swings from Fischer.
Entering the game, Prager had allowed five home runs in 146 at-bats this season. Fischer took him deep twice in three at-bats on his way to a two-for-four afternoon.
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Tennessee Puts The Game Away In The Bottom Of The Sixth
Tennessee held a healthy 5-0 lead when Texas A&M recorded its second out in the sixth inning and Caden McCoy came in to relieve Prager. Things quickly got away from McCoy.
Jay Abernathy was on third base when McCoy entered. Ariel Antigua drove him in with an infield single. Dean Curley worked a walk and then Dalton Bargo stayed hot with a RBI single to center field.
Hunter Ensley then all but put the game away with a three-run opposite field homer to right field. Ensley’s fifth homer of the year extended Tennessee’s lead to 10-0, putting the run-rule in play and dramatically increasing the chances of a no hitter.
It was Tennessee’s biggest inning of the night with all five runs coming on three two-out base hits.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee and Texas A&M resume their three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch for game one is at 3 p.m. ET while first pitch for game two is at 7 p.m. ET.
