KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 17/19 Tennessee rode another dominant performance on the mound Tuesday night, shutting down ETSU en route to a third consecutive win, defeating the Bucs 7-1 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Bucs got the scoring started early in the top of the first after a hit batter and two straight walks loaded the bases to set up a sacrifice fly by left fielder Axel Melendez.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Brady Frederick came in to relieve starter Blaine Brown and limited the damage to just one run, getting all three outs in succession to get the Big Orange out of the jam down just one run.
The Volunteers came right back at the Bucs in the bottom of the first, with runners on second and third with no outs, Brown laced a double into the right-center field gap that scored two and gave UT a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Tennessee didn’t stop there, plating two more runs on a Reese Chapman bullet to the wall in left center and a Chris Newstrom single through the left side, each scoring one to make the score 4-1 after the first.
After a quiet next two innings, the Vols got back to work in the bottom of the fourth, pushing across another run thanks to a double from Newstrom and an RBI single from shortstop Manny Marin, extending the lead to four.
Henry Ford kept the ball rolling in the bottom of the sixth when the junior third baseman launched a 406-foot, two-run bomb over the porches in left field to make the score 7-1 Big Orange.
UT relief pitchers recorded all 27 outs in the game, with Frederick earning the win after tossing three shutout innings out of the bullpen against his former team. Cam Appenzeller, Brandon Arvidson, Mark Hindy and Bo Rhudy combined for 12 strikeouts behind Frederick and did not allow a runner to advance past second base after the first inning.
Four UT players finished the game with multiple hits, led by Chapman’s 3-for-3 day. Ford, Newstrom and leadoff man Jay Abernathy all had two hits apiece as the Vols tallied 11 total knocks for the game, tied for their second most in a game this season.
UP NEXT: Tennessee will be back in Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Wednesday at 4 p.m. looking to extend its win streak to four games as they host the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
