Tennessee baseball returned to Lindsey Nelson Stadium on a short turnaround after its trip to Texas. The Vols hosted ETSU on Tuesday, with just a day of rest in between the early-season tournament.
UT handled business, though. Tennessee claimed the win over the Buccaneers, 7-1, to move to 9-3 on the young season. This came after an ugly top of the first, which was cleaned up before the Vols’ bats woke up to create an advantage it wouldn’t give up.
Overall, Tennessee recorded 11 hits, three doubles and a home run at the plate. With just the first inning seeing a run cross for the opposition, it was plenty to secure the comfortable win. The Vols threw six pitchers, with Brown the only to allow a run.
Here’s how the Vols claimed the win over ETSU.
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Brady Frederick Comes Through Against His Old Team
Things got off to an ugly start in the first inning. Blaine Brown got the start on the mound, but plunked the lead-off batter and threw 11 consecutive balls to load the bases with no outs. He was pulled in the midst of a 2-0 count, with Brady Frederick coming in in relief.
This was a matchup against his former squad, as well. Frederick transferred in from ETSU this past off-season after winning SoCon Pitcher of the Year.
In relief, Frederick was terrific. He gave up just one run in the sticky situation he was thrust into, before keeping the Buccaneers off the board in the following two frames. His final line sat at 3.0 innings pitched, with no hits, no earned runs, a walk and three strikeouts in 10 batters faced.
Tennessee Fires Back in the First
After allowing one run to cross as a product of Blaine Brown’s tough outing, the Vols faced an early one-run deficit. It didn’t take long for that to be erased, though.
After Jay Abernathy drew a lead-off walk and Henry Ford got aboard via a single, Brown atoned for his poor pitching performance with a double to tie the game. Levi Clark provided a groundout to short in the following at-bat to put Tennessee in front, 2-1.
With one out, Reese Chapman hammered a double of his own to score Brown from third. The final blow came from Chris Newstrom with two outs, who placed a single to push Chapman home from second.
This created a 4-1 cushion for the Vols to work with going forward.
Henry Ford Drills One to the Porches
Tennessee and ETSU’s bats went quiet for a good bit of the middle of the game. It was all 0s, except for a Manny Marin single to score Chris Newstrom from second.
That changed in the sixth. Following a single from Jay Abernathy, Henry Ford hammered a ball to left field. The shot landed off the very back of the top tier of the left field porches. This put the Vols up 7-1 six innings in.
Ford finished the game 2-for-5 at the plate with two runs and two RBI. His batting average on the year moved up to .327 as he mashed his fourth homer of the season.
Reese Chapman Finds His Groove
The best overall offensive outing came from Reese Chapman. The veteran outfielder went 3-for-3 at the plate with a run and RBI. He also roped a double in the outing.
In the seventh inning, Nate Eisfelder pinch-hit for Chapman, ending his day. The outing moved Chapman’s batting average up to .303 on the year.
Also contributing in a big way at the plate besides Chapman and the homer from Henry Ford was Jay Abernathy. He finished 2-for-4 with a walk as the lead-off batter, scoring a pair of runs. Chris Newstrom also contributed a pair of hits and walk in four plate appearances, with a run and RBI.
The team produced 11 hits, three doubles and the home run en route to the seven runs and comfortable win.
Up Next
Tennessee will have a short turnaround. The Vols will host Oakland on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET. The game will air on SECN+. Then, it’s a weekend set with Wright State spanning from Friday through Sunday. That’ll mark the final weekend stand before SEC play arrives.
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