Tegan Kuhns had a simple but loud message as he likely exited Lindsey Nelson Stadium for the final time in his career— it is his house. Kuhns dominated one of the SEC’s top offenses in seven shutout innings as Tennessee earned a 5-1 series-opening victory over fourth-ranked Texas.
More on Kuhns’ dominant outing and how the Vols got it done in the series opener.
Tennessee Found Early Success Against Dylan Volantis
Texas ace Dylan Volantis has been one of the SEC’s best pitchers in his sophomore season. But the Vols created early scoring opportunities against him and took advantage.
In the first inning, Blake Grimmer reached on an infield single, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a two-out Trent Grindlinger double to left-center field.
Tennessee then quickly went to work in the second inning. Levi Clark worked a leadoff walk and then scored on Manny Marin double down the third base line. After advancing to third on a groundout, Marin showed some heady base running and scored on a pitch in the dirt.
Volantis had allowed more than two earned runs just once in his previous eight SEC starts this season. The Vols tagged him for three before the Texas ace recorded his fifth out.
Capitalizing on its early scoring opportunities proved important because Volantis got in a groove after the second inning and retired nine of the final 11 batters he faced to keep Texas in striking distance.
Tegan Kuhns Bounces Back With Career Outing
After the best month of his Tennessee career, sophomore Tegan Kuhns turned in one of his worst performances last week at Kentucky. But Kuhns bounced back with a strong start in the series opener.
Texas star Aiden Robbins worked a leadoff walk to open the game against Kuhns. The Vols’ ace then retired 20 of the next 22 batters he faced. Kuhns set a new career-high by striking out 15 Texas batters. He broke his previous record by striking out 11 of the first 18 batters he faced.
The only trouble he truly faced came when Texas recorded a pair of two-out singles in the seventh inning. Josh Elander came out to chat but kept him in the game. Kuhns rewarded him, striking out Casey Borba on his 113th and final pitch of the night.
It was a dominant career outing for Kuhns with the right-handed pitcher allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out 15 in seven innings pitched. He out-dueled one of the nation’s best pitchers in the process.
More From RTI: Josh Elander Does Not Believe Cam Appenzeller Is Wearing Down Despite Recent Struggles
Blake Grimmer Provided Much Needed Insurance
Kuhns exited with Tennessee leading 3-0, but with the Vols’ bullpen shortcomings the game was far from over with a three-run lead. Tennessee’s offense then provided much needed insurance in the seventh inning.
Blaine Brown singled over the shift to leadoff the inning and advanced to second on a Carson Tinney throwing error. Brown and Stone Lawless advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch and scored an at-bat later when Blake Grimmer poked a single through the right side of the infield to give Tennessee a 5-0 lead.
The Vols were unable to complete the shutout but the insurance runs kept things from ever getting too dramatic.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee resumes its three-game series against Texas on Saturday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch is at 6 p.m. ET with the SEC Network+ streaming the game.
