by Jack Glennon
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On Friday evening, the Tennessee Volunteers baseball team defeated the visiting St. Bonaventure Bonnies 5-0, extending their season-opening win streak to 14 games.
Volunteers ace Liam Doyle took the mound on Friday night, and added another strong outing to his impressive early-season resume. The southpaw dismantled the St. Bonaventure lineup, holding them scoreless throughout his entire 5.2 inning outing. He gave up no hits, while walking a pair, and striking out 13 of the 19 batters he faced. He finished the day with 104 pitches, a season high. Doyle also picked up his 4th pitching win of the season.
Doyle’s replacements also fared well against the visitors. Tanner Franklin faced one batter to end the top of the 6th, retiring him after an 8-pitch battle. After walking David Marshall, lefty Brandon Arvidson struck out a pair en route to a scoreless 7th. Brayden May preserved the 12-run lead through the 8th, despite yielding another St. Bonaventure walk.
The Volunteers had quietly put together a combined no-hitter through 8 innings, with redshirt junior Michael Sharman entering the game to pitch the 9th.
Sharman retired the side in order, completing the combined no-hitter.
After the game, I asked pitcher Liam Doyle if accomplishing the combined no hitter with this particular team made it any more special. He said, “Yeah, it’s really cool, it just shows you how deep our team is… we have so many guys that are able to come in and throw… it’s really cool to be a part of.”
It’s clear that Doyle feels at home on Rocky Top, undoubtedly contributing to his stellar play.
Doyle was well supported by his lineup, who were able to score 7 runs before he ultimately exited the contest. 5 of these runs came across in the 2nd inning, which featured a pair of home runs from the bottom of the Tennessee batting order. Cannon Peebles slashed his 3rd home run of the season, scoring Andrew Fischer and Reese Chapman. 2 batters later, Dalton Bargo sent a 2-run shot of his own over the left field wall.
I was able to ask Tennessee Head Coach Tony Vitello what impressed him about Dalton Bargo’s at-bats tonight. He told me, “… he’s a really good player… he’s always a threat when he’s in the box… his at-bats were under control…”
Coach Vitello also touched on the importance of Bargo’s defensive flexibility, which likely means that Tennessee fans can expect to see Bargo’s role continue to grow.
In the 4th inning, Dean Curley brought Jay Abernathy home from third base with a sacrifice fly, putting the Volunteers ahead 6-0.
The Volunteer offense struck once more in the 5th inning. Hunter Ensley led off the inning with a gap-shot that hopped over the left-center field wall for an automatic double. Fischer walked. Levi Clark then looped a single into center field. A fielding error in center field allowed Fischer to advance to third, but he was promptly thrown out at the plate after trying to advance on a second fielding mishap (this time by Bonnies third baseman Harrison Kaufman).
The damage had already been done, however, as the Volunteers had put themselves ahead 7-0. And, unfortunately for St. Bonaventure, Tennessee’s offensive explosion was far from over.
The bottom of the 6th inning featured 5 runs from the Tennessee offense before St. Bonaventure was able to record a putout. The big inning started with a double from Dalton Bargo, followed by a Dean Curley walk. Gavin Kilen pushed a 3-run home run to left-center field. Andrew Fischer then made his presence felt with a “no-doubter” of a 2-run home run into the right field parking lot.
After a convincing win in the series opener, the Vols will look to build upon their early-season success tomorrow against St. Bonaventure in game 2 of the home weekend series.