Tennessee baseball was back at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Sunday afternoon for a 6.5-inning scrimmage with its season-opening series against Nicholls just five days away. It was the Vols’ third scrimmage in three days as they tune up for the start of the 2026 season.
It was not quite as formal as the scrimmages the week before the season have been in the past. Tennessee played 6.5 innings but the team who lost got one few batting opportunity.
Let’s start with a participation note. Ariel Antigua, who turned in strong performances on Friday and Saturday, did not participate in Sunday’s scrimmage. He was in the grey team’s lineup but did not play leaving just eight players in the lineup. Antigua was out on the field at times but did not play any. Antigua got banged up on Saturday sliding into third base and Tennessee is playing things safe with him.
San Diego State infielder Finley Bates played shortstop while Ethan Moore played second base and Tyler Myatt played third base.
The box score will not show it, but Moore hit the ball really hard. Reese Chapman made an impressive diving catch to take a hit away from him while Jay Abernathy made a diving stop at second before committing a throwing error. He hit the ball hard right at shortstop Manny Marin in another at-bat.
No one had a better day at the plate than Levi Clark. He doubled twice— once down the left field line and another that one-hopped the wall in right field. Tyler Myatt, Trent Grindlinger, Hunter High, Evan Hankins and Hutson Chance each also reached base twice.
A couple negative notes. Brady Frederick came in with runners on first and second with one-out in the fifth inning. He induced what should have been an easy double play ball from Finley Bates, but Manny Marin booted it allowing the runner to score from second.
A half inning later, Chris Newstrom hit a pop up that dropped right in front of home plate as no infielder made the play. Only it didn’t matter because Newstrom didn’t run to first base and was tagged out. Newstrom ran for the mistake.
On the mount, Nic Abraham had an awesome day. One of four returning pitchers from last year’s team, Abraham allowed just four hits and no walks while striking out five in 5.1 innings pitched. He lived in the zone and kept the better lineup well in check.
Frederick and Duke transfer left-handed pitcher Mark Hindy also had solid relief outings. With that, it’s on to the stats from the afternoon.
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Away (Grey) 4, Home (White) 0
Grey Stats
Hitting:
RF Hunter High — 1/3, BB, K
C/DH Trent Grindlinger — 1/3, BB, R
3B/LF Tyler Myatt — 1/3, BB, K, R
1B Evan Hankins — 1/3, K, GIDP, BB, 2 R
2B/SS Finley Bates — 1/4, 2B
CF Hutson Chance — 0/2, BB, HBP, K
LF/C Cash Williams — 1/4, K
DH/2B Ethan Moore — 0/4, K
Pitching:
SP: RHP Nic Abraham — 5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
LHP Chandler Day — 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
White Stats
Hitting:
CF Jay Abernathy — 1/3, CS
3B Henry Ford — 0/3, K
SP Blaine Brown — 1/3, K
1B Levi Clark — 2/2, 2 2Bs
RF Reese Chapman — 0/2, K
C Stone Lawless — 0/2
SS Manny Marin — 0/2, K
2B Chris Newstrom — 0/2
LF/DH Nathan Eisfelder — 0/2, K
Pitching:
SP: LHP Blaine Brown — 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
RHP Ethan Baiotto — 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 1 K
RHP Brady Frederick — 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 2 K
LHP Mark Hindy — 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
RHP Brayden Krenzel — 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
