KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee baseball completed a season-opening series sweep of Nicholls Saturday in Knoxville, run-ruling the Colonels 12-2 in 7 innings.
Saturday evening’s series finale also served as game two of a doubleheader, as potential inclement weather caused Sunday’s game to be moved up.
Tennessee out-scored Nicholls 17-3 in the doubleheader and 27-3 on the weekend.
In the finale, Tennessee’s offense was red-hot out of the gate, highlighted by Rice transfer Blaine Brown. Starting pitcher Evan Blanco tossed five scoreless innings in his first outing as a Vol, Tyler Myatt and Levi Clark each tallied three RBI and the combination of Brayden Krenzel and Brady Frederick logged the final six outs.
Here’s how it happened.
Evan Blanco With a Quality Season Debut
Evan Blanco had a quality first start as a Vol. The Woburn, Massachusetts native gave up five hits, two walks and struck out an impressive nine in 5.0 innings of work.
Blanco wasn’t dominant, but he did a great job working out of jams. As a result, he held Nicholls scoreless through five frames. He didn’t go as deep into the game as fellow starters Tegan Kuhns and Landon Mack this weekend, but he tied Mack with nine punchouts to co-lead the team.
The senior got off to a strong start, retiring eight of his first nine batters. But after a pair of two-out singles and a walk in the third, Blanco found himself in a bases-loaded jam.
The experienced lefty got out of it, though, striking out Caston Thompson to keep the Colonels scoreless.
The 26-pitch inning caused Blanco’s pitch count to climb north of 50 through three innings, however, increasing the likelihood of a quicker outing given the 85-pitch max head coach Josh Elander placed on starters.
Blanco retired the side around a leadoff single in the fourth but ran into more trouble in the fifth.
A one-out walk and single put a pair on for the Colonels, but Blanco got a fielder’s choice and a crucial ninth and final strikeout to strand runners on the corners.
The Virginia transfer boasts a ton of talent and upside and also a high floor for the Vols. Blanco was Virginia’s ace in 2024 when the Cavaliers reached Omaha but struggled in an injury-ridden 2025 campaign.
If Blanco can get back to his 2024 self, or even better, he will not only be one of Tennessee’s top arms, but maybe one of the better pitchers in the SEC.
More From RTI: Tennessee Baseball Handles Business In Game Two Of Nicholls Series
Offense Attacks Early and Often
Tennessee’s offense wasted no time getting things going. Blaine Brown picked up where he left off after his two-homer effort in game one of the doubleheader, crushing a 373-foot one-out solo homer to the left-field porches in the opening frame.
Levi Clark made it back to back blasts, smoking a no-doubter that joined Brown’s in the porches for his first long ball of the season.
Brown’s homer marked his third of the day and season, and third in a four at-bat stretch.
The Rice transfer entered the season with loads of hype and figured to be one of Tennessee’s top bats. He’s showing why early.
Tyler Myatt continued Tennessee’s big first inning, knocking an RBI double off the left-field wall to score Reese Chapman, who walked. Myatt’s double chased Nicholls starter Haden Luke, who only recorded one out.
A wild pitch later scored Myatt to round out the four-run frame.
The bats stayed hot in the second inning. Ford began the frame with a walk, and the next three batters reached base.
Clark smacked a two-run single up the middle to score Ford and Brown, who doubled. A failed pickoff attempt allowed Myatt to bring Clark home with an RBI groundout.
Tennessee quickly led 7-0 after two innings, putting the Vols in great position to ultimately earn a series-sweeping run-rule victory.
Blowout Continues, Leading to Run-Rule
As Tennessee’s pitching staff kept throwing 0s up on the scoreboard, Nicholls ran out of pitching.
In the fourth, Tennessee loaded the bases with no outs thanks to a Brown leadoff single, Clark HBP and Nate Eisfelder pinch-hit walk.
Myatt and Jay Abernathy each recorded RBI groundouts to extend UT’s lead to nine runs.
Tennessee loaded the bases with no outs again in the fifth after pinch-hitter Finley Bates crushed a leadoff solo homer on the first pitch he saw.
From there, Nicholls issued a pair of RBI walks to bring Tennessee’s lead to 12.
Sophomore right-hander Brayden Krenzel got the ball to begin the sixth and recorded a 1-2-3 inning on just six pitches. ETSU transfer pitcher Brady Frederick recorded the final three outs in the seventh but gave up a two-run single that prevented the shutout.
Final Stats
Player spotlight:
Blaine Brown was the player of the weekend for Tennessee. The star sophomore went 8-14 at the plate with three home runs and five RBIs.
Up Next
Tennessee will host UNC Asheville Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET in its first midweek contest of the season. The Vols follow that up with a three-game weekend series vs. Kent State next weekend.
