Tennessee baseball took care of business in its first midweek game of the season, knocking off UNC Asheville 10-3 on Tuesday night in Knoxville.
The Vols fell behind early before responding quickly while four pitchers made their Tennessee debut. Here’s how Tennessee got it done in the midweek matchup.
Blaine Brown Gets It Done On Mound And At The Plate
After a highly impressive opening weekend at the plate, Rice transfer Blaine Brown made his debut on the mound against UNC Asheville. Josh Elander gave Brown the ball as an opener and Brown made the most of his opportunity.
Brown promptly struck out the side in his lone inning pitched. The lanky lefty’s fastball sat 95 mph and he leaned on it heavily. Two of his punch outs were on the pitch while another was on the breaking ball. Both a year ago at Rice and this fall, Brown struggled with his command. But that was not the case Tuesday, throwing 10 strikes in 16 pitches.
It was a more quiet game for Brown at the plate compared to the three home runs he hit over the weekend. UNC Asheville retired Brown his first three times up before the outfielder roped a RBI double down the right field line in his third at-bat.
Brown finished the game hitting one-for-five with the double. It was a continuation of the strong start to the season with the sophomore showing what he could do on the mound.
Tennessee Responds To Its First Adversity Of The Season
For the first time on the young season, Tennessee trailed against UNC Asheville. Freshman Cameron Appenzeller came in to pitch beginning in the second inning and quickly found himself in trouble.
UNC Asheville quickly put two runners on base with a one-out double and a walk. They came home to score with a Chase Klingemann single to right field and a Coleman McGinnis sac bunt.
Tennessee’s offense quickly responded with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the second. Colin Woolard hit Stone Lawless to lead off the inning before Tyler Myatt gave Tennessee two runners in-scoring position with an opposite field double. Lawless scored on a Chris Newstrom sac fly before Myatt came home on a Jay Abernathy double.
Then in the third inning, Tennessee took the lead for good when Lawless crushed a three-run homer 410 feet into the second deck of left field porches.
Perhaps more important than the response at the plate was Appenzeller’s response on the mound. The left-handed pitcher proceeded to retire the final 11 batters he faced after the rocky start. He finished his second outing of his career by allowing two runs on two hits while striking out four in four innings pitched.
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Three Pitchers Make Their Tennessee Debut
It was a mild surprise that Duke transfer Mark Hindy did not make his debut over the weekend, but he was the next man out of the bullpen following Appenzeller’s appearance. Hindy offered a leadoff walk but responded well after that, retiring the next three batters he faced with a fly out, pop out and line out.
Talented freshman pitcher Ethan Baiotto made his college debut an inning later and retired the side around a leadoff double. A 94 mph fastball with movement and a nasty off-speed pitch looked stellar as the right-handed pitcher sat a pair of batters down swinging.
Fellow freshman Taylor Tracey pitched the eighth inning retiring side following a leadoff single. That runner stole both second and third as the lefty pitcher stranded him on third. Tracery came back out for the ninth inning but exited after a leadoff walk. That run ended up coming home to score after Tracey exited.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee baseball is back in action Friday night when they welcome Kent State to Knoxville for a three-game series. First pitch for the three-game series is 4:30 p.m. ET Friday afternoon.
