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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee dominated the day en route to a doubleheader sweep of No. 13 Alabama on Friday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Volunteers (29-15, 10-11 SEC) outscored the Crimson Tide (29-16, 10-11 SEC) 21-4 over the two games, getting contributions from up and down the lineup to go along with a pair of fantastic starting pitching outings from Tegan Kuhns and Evan Blanco.
The duo of Blaine Brown and Trent Grindlinger led the way offensively with a combined 10 hits and nine RBIs on the day with both players totaling five hits apiece.
Recaps for both games can be seen below.
GAME 1: Tennessee 10, Alabama 0 (8 Inn.)
Tegan Kuhns was spectacular for the Volunteers in game one of Friday’s doubleheader, leading Tennessee to its first run-rule victory over an SEC opponent since also shutting out Texas A&M, 10-0 in seven innings, on April 4 of last season in what was a combined no-hitter.
Kuhns recorded his first-career complete game and the first complete-game shutout for UT since Marcus Phillips tossed one in a 10-0 seven-inning win over Florida on March 15 of last season.
The Pennsylvania native turned in a final line of eight innings pitched, three hits, nine strikeouts and just one walk, marking the first time any pitcher has thrown a complete-game shutout against Alabama since Sam Dutton of Auburn did so on April 4 of last year.
The sophomore right-hander retired the Crimson Tide in order six times in his eight innings of work to earn the win and improve to 3-3 on the year while helping the Big Orange even the weekend series at one game apiece.
Freshman standout Trent Grindlinger opened the scoring account for the Vols in the bottom of the second inning with a solo homer over the wall in right-center field to grab an early 1-0 lead. The Cali kid reached base in all five of his plate appearances, finishing 2-for-2 with a pair of intentional walks, a hit-by-pitch, two runs scored and two RBIs.
After Jay Abernathy led off the bottom of the third with a walk and Garrett Wright looped a single into shallow right field, Henry Ford laced a double down the left-field line to bring Abernathy around to score to give the Vols a two-run cushion.
Tennessee went on to score two more runs in the inning as Reese Chapman pushed one across on a groundout to the right side before Grindlinger capped the inning off with a long RBI single off the left-field wall to give his squad a 4-0 lead.
It was all quiet from both sides for two innings until UT tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Blaine Brown came around to score on a ground ball to the third baseman, who got the out at second base before the relay to first was thrown away by the second baseman and allowed Abernathy to score from second, giving the Orange and White a six-run lead heading to the latter third of the ballgame.
The Volunteers added two more runs in the seventh, then put the game away with two more in the eighth to seal the 10-0 run-rule victory.
Brown posted his second multi-hit game of the week with two hard-hit singles while Ford and Chapman both drove in a pair of runs. Abernathy was a menace on the base paths, scoring two runs after walking twice and getting hit by a pitch to reach three times.
GAME 2: Tennessee 11, Alabama 4
Blaine Brown stole the show in game two of Friday’s twin bill, finishing 3-for-3 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs to lead Tennessee to an 11-4 victory and series win over the Crimson Tide.
Brown’s two-run blast into the porches during the Vols’ seven-run sixth inning broke a 3-3 tie and proved to be the game-deciding hit. The sophomore slugger went deep for the second time one inning later with a solo shot into the Tennessee bullpen for his 12th long ball of the year.
Trent Grindlinger also had a massive game two at the dish, going 3-for-5 for a homer and three RBIs. Henry Ford, Blake Grimmer and Reese Chapman also chipped in with two hits each as the Vols finished with 14 total for the game.
Evan Blanco was his normal steady self on the mound, turning in his fourth consecutive quality start to earn the win and improve to 5-2 this season. The senior left-hander tied a season high with nine strikeouts while allowing three runs on five hits.
UT was able to capitalize on three critical errors by Alabama in the sixth inning to break open the game with a seven-run frame. Five of the Vols’ seven runs in the inning were unearned after defensive miscues from third baseman Jason Torres, pitcher Myles Upchurch and first baseman Andrew Purdy.
Brandon Arvidson and Bo Rhudy combined to pitch the final three innings, allowing just one run on two hits to quell and thought of a rally for the Tide.
UP NEXT: The Vols will have a rare full weekend off before closing out their nine-game homestand with a midweek battle against West Georgia on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
