Tennessee baseball wrapped up its nine-game home stand with a 13-0 seven-inning run-rule victory on Tuesday night. The Vols jumped on West Georgia early and coasted to the non conference win thanks to solid pitching and five home runs.
Here’s how it happened.
Cam Appenzeller Makes His First Career Start
All went smoothly as Cam Appenzeller made his first career start on Tuesday night. Appenzeller pitched just one inning, striking out two batters while retiring the side around a two-out single.
The freshman threw just 14 pitches but 13 of them were strikes. His strong outing was no surprise given his talent and the level of competition, but the strong command was a good sign after struggling that it in his last two outings.
Tennessee head coach Josh Elander told Voice of Vol Baseball John Wilkerson pregame that the reasoning for starting Appenzeller was two-fold. First, it gave Appenzeller the chance to get back on the mound after struggling his late time out. Secondly, it gives Appenzeller the experience of starting if the Vols decide to move him into the starting rotation.
We’ll see what Elander says postgame about Tennessee’s pitching plan for this weekend against Kentucky.
Tennessee Hit Five Home Runs In The Win
The Vols quickly jumped on West Georgia, scoring nine runs in the first two innings on four home runs. Tennessee wasn’t done from there either finishing the game with five long balls.
Reese Chapman got the scoring started in the first inning when he hit a towering three-run homer to right field. Levi Clark made it two home runs in two pitches when he launched a 424 foot homer over the left field porches.
The second inning worked backwards as Manny Marin opened the inning by punishing an 0-2, hanging breaking ball 377 feet to left field. Then after a pair of walks, Henry Ford hit a three-run homer 389 feet to left-center field.
Freshman Nate Eisfelder hit a solo homer to left-center field in the bottom of the fourth inning. It marked the second homer of his career.
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Other Pitching Notes
Despite it being a seven-inning game, Tennessee still found a way to use nine pitchers in the victory. Appenzeller, Ethan Baiotto, Brayden Krenzel, Sawyer Deering, Will Haas, Chandler Day, Brady Frederick, Taylor Tracey and Jax Bishop combined to shutout the Wolves.
Baiotto looked stellar in his lone inning pitched, striking out two while inducing a soft ground ball back to himself. Krenzel continues to pass his low stakes tests, retiring four of five batters he faced while throwing 14 pitches and 10 strikes.
Haas struck out two batters in a one-two-three inning while Tracey struck out both batters he faced. The full allotment of Tennessee pitches struck out nine batters and walked zero.
Box Score
Up Next
After finishing its nine-game homestead 6-3, Tennessee heads back on the road this weekend to face Kentucky in a three-game series. First pitch for the series opener from Kentucky Proud Park is at 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday night.
