Tennessee baseball took care of business in its penultimate midweek game of the 2025 season, run-ruling Indiana State 12-1 in seven innings on Tuesday night.
The Vols jumped out to an early lead while their offense bashed five home runs including two from leadoff hitter Gavin Kilen. Here’s how it went down.
Tennessee Comes Out Fast Offensively
Tennessee’s offensive issues persisted over the weekend in its series loss against Auburn with the Vols scoring just one run in both losses.
Tony Vitello did some tinkering with his lineup, moving Andrew Fischer into the two-spot and bumping Dean Curley to the five-spot as Hunter Ensley and Dalton Bargo each moved up a spot. Related or unrelated to the changes, Tennessee’s offense jumped out to a fast start.
Three straight singles to open the bottom of the first inning gave Tennessee a 1-0 lead before Indiana State recorded an out. The Vols got one more run in the first inning via a Curley infield single. Then Tennessee scored two more runs in the second inning via a Jay Abernathy groundout that scored Blake Grimmer and a Kilen solo homer.
Neither inning was anything crazy but did mark early success for an offense that’s been struggling.
A More Extended Michael Sharman Outing
For the second straight Tuesday, lefty Michael Sharman has gotten extended work. After throwing 4.1 innings of relief last week against Northern Kentucky, Sharman tossed 3.2 innings as the Vols’ starter against Indiana State.
It was a strong outing for Sharman, allowing one run on five hits and a walk. The left hander also struck out a trio of Sycamores.
Indiana State played small ball to plate its lone run against Sharman in the third inning. Mason Roell led off the inning with a double off the wall and advanced to third on a bunt single. That put Sharman in a runners on the corners jam with no-one out. Sharman allowed the run to score but got a 4-6-3 double play to ease the pressure. That proved important after back-to-back singles to follow it.
The Sycamores would put a runner on third with two outs in the fourth inning before Austin Breedlove relieved Sharman and struck out Roell to exit the inning. Sharman wasn’t spectacular but did have a nice start against the Sycamores.
More From RTI: LIVE Updates, Score, Notes — No. 15 Tennessee Baseball vs. Indiana State
Gavin Kilen’s Big Night
Tennessee star Gavin Kilen had perhaps his worst weekend of the season against Auburn, going two-for-13 at the plate with no walks.
Kilen responded to a rough weekend with a great night at the plate, going three-for-four with two home runs and four RBIs. Hitting in the leadoff spot, Kilen sparked Tennessee’s offense in the first inning with a single before scoring two at-bats later.
The left hander left the yard for the first time in the second inning, hitting a solo shot to right field 359 feet. Kilen left the yard again his next time up with a three-run shot 390 feet to right field. The second blast truly broke open the game, giving Tennessee an 8-1 lead.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee baseball faces Vanderbilt in its penultimate SEC series this weekend at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The instate rivals open the weekend series at 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday evening. The SEC Network is broadcasting game one and all three games will be televised.
