BATON ROUGE, La. — After three straight lackluster starts, Marcus Phillips turned in one of his better outings in his most consequential start in a Tennessee uniform on Saturday night against LSU. Phillips wasn’t the only Vol veteran that turned in a strong performance in Tennessee’s 9-3 series evening victory over the Tigers.
That group of Vols, that includes good everyday players but not superstars, are the ones that control Tennessee’s ceiling. Their response to Tennessee’s series opening collapse on the Bayou was telling and significant.
Phillips led the way, allowing two earned runs in 6.2 innings of work. After opponents combined to steal 15 bases against him the last two weeks, LSU stole zero. Phillips found a simple solution. Don’t let them get on base. The Tigers totaled just three hits, including two solo homers, while working four walks.
“I like it for him, but the bigger story is for the team, he kind of put a stake in the ground — or whatever you want to say — and said follow me and he wasn’t going to let his teammates down,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said of Phillips.
“I had all my pitches for a strike today which was helpful but honestly I feel like I took last night a little personal,” Phillips added. “I feel like today I had a different motive and that was to do whatever I could to help my team win today.”
At the plate, there’s a trio of juniors in Cannon Peebles, Reese Chapman and Dalton Bargo are all in bigger roles this season. There’s some occasional variation but that group has mostly settled in the five through seven spots of the lineup.
They’re the flex guys in the middle of the lineup. Dean Curley is slumping, but Tennessee’s top four hitters have mostly been really good. Streaky young players occupy the final two spots in the lineup and won’t be overly consistent. It’s those three juniors in the middle of the lineup that will decide how good the Vols’ offense is.
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The trio have had varying degrees of success throughout the season but were, collectively, at their best against LSU. Chapman and Bargo combined for four hits with Bargo delivering a significant two-out, two-RBI single in the eighth inning.
“I think it just changes you even feel after BP is over and the game is going to start,” Vitello said of Chapman and Bargo. “When Bargo is relaxed as a person and also true to his swing and relaxed in his swing, it’s phenomenal. Then Reese … comes to the dugout with good presence and when he’s locked into a good approach that he’s worked hard on with Coach E(lander), that combo is good. It’s a huge boost.”
While Chapman and Bargo had nice nights in the win, Peebles was stellar. The backstop reached base in three of five plate appearances and drove in runs in three of them as well. Peebles punctuated his night with the three-run homer in the eighth inning which pushed Tennessee’s lead to seven runs.
Peebles has had less success than Chapman and Bargo this season. For him to stack quality at-bats on top of one another was an encouraging sign.
“I just think the more he plays and gets in a rhythm, the more he’s just going to be a ball player,” Vitello said.
Even out of the bullpen, sophomore Dylan Loy came in after some rough outings and got the final seven outs for Tennessee. The first came in a one-run game then the next six came with a healthy lead. But he did what you’re supposed to do with a lead, filling up the strike zone. Loy allowed a solo home runs but no other hits or walks.
Phillips isn’t the superstar ace of Tennessee’s pitching staff but with how shaky Sunday’s have been, the Vols need him to be a reliable starter. The same can be said for Loy in a bullpen short on trustworthy arms.
On a 40-man roster so many players are important. But those five— Phillips, Chapman, Bargo, Peebles and Loy— largely control Tennessee’s ceiling. They stepped up in a commanding Tennessee response Saturday night.
