Tennessee baseball used a six-run eighth inning to survive a scare and knock off Northern Kentucky 12-6 on Tuesday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols’ pitching struggled due to a pair of long balls while their offense got production from some regular contributors to earn the win.
Here’s how it happened.
Blake Grimmer Stays Hot
Redshirt sophomore Blake Grimmer was one of the few Tennessee hitters that had a nice weekend against LSU, bashing two home runs while reaching base seven times over the course of the weekend. Grimmer stayed red-hot in the midweek matchup.
The left-handed hitter opened the scoring in the first inning with a two-run homer to right field. Then in his third at-bat, Grimmer hit a 422 foot solo home run to right field. It was his fourth home run in four games and his ninth home run in 21 games played this season.
Grimmer finished the game three-for-five with four runs batted in as he continues to perform like Tennessee’s best hitter this season.
Things Spiraled For Ethan Baiotto Quickly
Making his second start of the season, freshman Ethan Baiotto started strong. He retired the first six batters he faced with only one ball leaving the infield while Tennessee’s offense scored three runs to take control of the gam early.
But things quickly got away from Baiotto in the third inning. He allowed back-to-back ground ball singles and then sailed a pick off attempt into centerfield, allowing both runners to advance 90 feet.
The error ended up not mattering as nine-hole hitter Hunter Friedberg launched a game-tying home run to right-center field. Friedberg’s home run ended Baiotto’s day. After a strong first two innings, things quickly spiraled for Baiotto’s in the third inning.
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Northern Kentucky Tied The Game In The Seventh Inning
Brady Frederick relieved Baiotto and steadied the ship after a terrible outing on Sunday against LSU. The right-handed submarine pitcher allowed just one baserunner while striking out three batters in 3.1 innings pitched.
But things went horribly for Tennessee in the top half of the seventh inning. Left-handed pitcher Mark Hindy walked the first two batters of the inning before right-handed freshman Sawyer Deering relieved him. Northern Kentucky first baseman Ethan Thomas tied the game on the second pitch Deering threw, hitting a three-run homer to left-center field.
Taylor Tracey relieved Deering and got through the seventh inning with little issue but by that point the damage was already done.
Tennessee Reclaims The Lead For Good In The Eighth
Tennessee reclaimed the lead for good with a six-run eighth inning. Manny Marin started the rally with a one-out walk. The Vols then found themselves in business when a pinch hitting Tyler Myatt roped a double off the right field wall. Northern Kentucky intentionally walked Garrett Wright and brought in Gannon Wentz to face Reese Chapman with the bases juiced and one out.
Wentz nearly got out of the jam, striking out Reese Chapman before getting Henry Ford to hit a grounder to shortstop. But Tennessee caught a break with a Alex Brazer throwing error allowing two runs to score.
Grimmer’s third RBI hit of the game pushed the lead to three runs before Trent Grindlinger broke things open with a three-run, 354 foot opposite field homer. Bo Rhudy didn’t mess around in the ninth inning, retiring the side around a two-out walk.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee baseball heads on the road this weekend where they’ll face off against No. 9 Mississippi State in a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field. First pitch for the weekend series is at 6 p.m. ET on Friday night.
