Tennessee baseball came from behind and walked it off to defeat Wright State 4-3 in the series opener on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Big swings from Garrett Wright, Henry Ford, Blake Grimmer and Manny Marin proved significant as its bullpen turned in another shutdown performance.
Here’s how the Vols got it done in their second series opening walk off win of the young season.
Tegan Kuhns Was Not Sharp But Also Not Terrible
It was not Tegan Kuhns’ best outing of the season as the sophomore pitcher just did not look sharp from the jump. He wasn’t out of the zone, not offering up a single walk while throwing 60 strikes and in 78 pitches.
But Wright State consistently had baserunners against Kuhns as he missed too often over the heart of the plate— the same issue that he had last week against UCLA. Wright State totaled eight hits in five innings pitches.
Kuhns had just one clean inning, striking out two and inducing a groundout in the second inning. Andrew Duncan and Hunter Warren were his kryptonite. Each totaled two hits off of him with Warren driving Duncan home twice.
It was not Kuhns’ best night. But he allowed just three runs in five innings pitched. He got into the middle of the game and exited giving Tennessee a chance to win. It just was not a shutdown ace performance and the offensive struggles expedited the struggles.
A Big Sequence In The Sixth Inning Was A Two-Run Difference
Wright State put runners on the corners with one-out against Tennessee reliever Brandon Arvidson in the sixth inning. Arvidson stuck out Zac Butler for out number two then Wright State tried to steal the run.
The Raiders put on the double steal play as Cy Turner got in a run down between first and second before Patrick Fultz tried to steal home. Tennessee was aware on defense, keeping an eye on Fultz while Turner was in the run down.
When Fultz made his move home, Jay Abernathy fired an accurate throw home to Stone Lawless to get the final out of the inning.
Tennessee’s offense did not take the defensive play and run with it, but they did add a run when Blake Grimmer hit a 330 foot Lindsey Nelson Stadium special into the away bullpen. The solo home runs cut Wright State’s lead to one run.
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Henry Ford Was The Saving Grace For The Offense On A Bad Night
Tennessee’s offensive issues continued to open up the series. The first inning was promising enough when Abernathy walked and the next three Vols hit the ball hard right at Raiders for outs. But it was slow pickings from there.
The Vols totaled just six hits on the night, including four through eight innings, and had just six more baserunners. Tennessee did not put consistent pressure on Wright State’s pitchers and just had little juice throughout the game.
Henry Ford was the saving grace, twice coming through with two-out RBI hits. In the third inning, Ford singled to left-center field to drive home Garrett Wright. Then in the seventh inning, Abernathy worked a two-out walk and Ford made it count by roping a line drive that one-hopped the wall in right field.
It was a risky send home by Josh Elander, but the cutoff man slipped and his throw was offline which allowed Abernathy to evade the tag and score.
Tennessee’s bats did little to alleviate the questions surrounding them, but Ford came through in a big way. He’s been the Vols’ best and most consistent hitter this season.
How Tennessee Walked It Off
The Vols’ bullpen combined to throw four scoreless innings with Brady Frederick sitting the Raiders down one-two-three in the ninth following three scoreless innings from Brandon Arvidson. That sent the game to the bottom of the ninth inning when Tennessee earned its second walk-off win of the season.
Wright led off the inning by roping a two-out double to left field to put the leadoff man in-scoring position. It didn’t take the Vols long to get him home. Manny Marin showed bunt leading Wright State’s corner infielders to come running in and its middle infielders to prepare to cover first and third base, respectively.
But Marin pulled back and line a single up the middle. Wright beat the throw home and Tennessee earned a come from behind victory in the series opener.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee and Wright State resume its three-game series on Saturday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch is at 2 p.m. ET and the SEC Network+ is streaming the game.
