Vols Use Late Surge to Put Away Norse & Remain Perfect in Midweek Games

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee rode a six-run eighth inning and a combined seven RBIs from Blake Grimmer and Trent Grindlinger to a 12-6 win over Northern Kentucky Tuesday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. 

After a walk from leadoff man Garrett Wright, Grimmer got the scoring started right away in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run homer to right field, giving the Vols (21-12) an early 2-0 lead. 

The redshirt sophomore went yard again in the fifth, marking his first-career multi-homer game. Grimmer has gone deep four times over the last four games after hitting a pair of home runs in last weekend’s series against LSU.

Manny Marin would follow suit in the bottom half of the second inning with a home run of his own, a solo shot into the porches to extend the UT lead to three. 

Back-to-Back singles from the Norse (13-18) to lead off the top of the third put two runners on with no one out for nine-hole hitter Hunter Friedberg, who stepped in and hit a three-run home run to clear the bases and tie the game. 

Wright came through in the bottom of the fourth inning with an RBI double down the left-field line, bringing Marin around to score to put the Vols back in front. 

Grimmer stayed red hot in the bottom of the fifth, launching a 422-foot bomb over the bullpen in right field, to make the score 5-3. 

Wright delivered again for the Orange and White in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a seeing-eye single up the middle to bring in Levi Clark from third to add to UT’s lead.

After two runners reached on consecutive walks in the top of the seventh, NKU hit their second three-run homer of the game to level things up once again at six.

The Big Orange punched back in a big way in the bottom of the eighth. The first two runs of the inning came in to score on a throwing error from the shortstop before Grimmer drove in his fourth run of the game with a single to right field to give his squad a three-run lead. 

One batter later, Grindlinger delivered the first home run of his career, a three-run blast from the standout freshman to right field to put the final nail in the coffin.

Bo Rhudy earned the first win of his Tennessee career, posting a scoreless relief outing while striking out three batters over the final 1.2 innings. With the win, UT improved to 9-0 in midweek games this season.

UP NEXT: Tennessee will be on the road this weekend as they head down to Starkville for a three-game set against the No. 9 Mississippi State Bulldogs at Dudy Noble Field. First pitch for Friday’s series opener is slated for 7 p.m. ET.