KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 1 Tennessee captured win number 23 on the heels of an impressive showing from their arms and redshirt freshman Blake Grimmer. The Vols used an impressive fifth inning to walk away with a 14-3 victory against Queens.
Head coach Tony Vitello exercised his mid-week bullpen on Tuesday night, using 10 different pitchers, including redshirt sophomore Brandon Arvidson, who was credited with the win.
Arvidson pitched 2 innings, striking out 4, and didn’t allow a hit in his appearance.
Michael Sharman got the start and pitched a scoreless first inning before Vitello made the move to the pen.
As for the offensive side of the ball, Grimmer was the big story, tallying 2 hits and a team-high 5 RBI on Tuesday.
Vitello credited him with “being a great teammate even though he hasn’t gotten as many carrots at the end of the road as he would like to get… He’s being rewarded for all his hard work.”
Grimmer believes his patience is the biggest development he’s had in his time on campus. He’s taking his time during his at-bats, which has helped calm him down at the dish and worked on his pitch selection.
He hit his third home run on the campaign on Tuesday night, and he willed it to the wall, screaming “Get up” on his way to first until it went over the wall.
Tennessee got the scoring started in the first inning on a Dalton Bargo opposite-field homerun that just kept going, originally seeming like a routine flyout. Bargo has been swinging a nice bat lately, going .461 in his last four games at the plate, including 2 home runs.
“He’s really stayed in his swing nicely the last few weeks… Not overswinging it, not trying to do too much. And he’s got a real, pretty swing, first of all, visually, but also a functional swing… When he stays within his swing and also going up there and being who he is, which is a hitter, good things are going to happen and they’re happening right now.” – Coach Tony Vitello on Dalton Bargo.
Grimmer tallied his first RBI in the second after Reese Chapman doubled to left center and advanced to third on a ground out. Grimmer grounded out sharply to short and scored Chapman on the play.
Moving to the fourth inning, Andrew Behnke came in for Bryson Thacker and gave up a home run to leadoff hitter Anibal Rivera.
Behnke allowed a single and a hit-by-pitch, which made Vitello motion to the bullpen for Austin Hunley.
Hunley didn’t have much success either, thanks to sloppy play from Stone Lawless. Queens used a double steal to draw a throw with two outs in the inning, and on the throw down to second, nobody covered the base, allowing the ball to trickle into center field allowing the runner from second to steal third, then home.
Next, Justin Hudson singled through the left side making Tennessee pay for the lackadaisical defense, giving them a 3-2 lead.
The lead was erased by another monster fifth inning. The best part about it was it all came with two outs.
Grimmer led off the inning with a walk, and after a flyout and a strikeout, Bargo and Hunter Ensley were hit by pitches.
Andrew Fischer and Lawless both walked in a run, giving Tennessee the lead back at 4-3.
Next, Chapman singled back up the middle, scoring another pair, and advanced to second on the throw, setting Grimmer up perfectly, after Tennessee batted around.
Grimmer delivered with a 2 RBI single, capping the inning with a 6-run explosion and making it an 8-3 game.
Fischer stayed hot at the dish in the sixth, hitting a 2-run single through the left side making it 10-3 Vols.
Coach Vitello has been impressed with his performance lately, saying “I think with two strikes he’s been better… He likes the fire burning a little brighter or a little drama in things, you know, when that kicks up his play kicks up.” Fischer is hitting .500 in his last four games, with a pair of 2 long home runs against Alabama this past weekend.
Later in the inning, Newstrom hit a sac-fly out to left, scoring Fischer, making it an 11-3 game.
Lawless scored on a passed ball after getting on earlier in the inning via a walk, giving the Big Orange a 12-3 lead after six.
Tennessee rounded out an impressive day at the dish with Grimmer’s 2-run homer, making the final score 14-3.
Updates
Second baseman Gavin Kilen has been dealing with a hamstring injury retroactive to March 18th after he came up limping on a play at second during the team’s loss to ETSU. He has been listed as day-to-day, but Coach Vitello said on Tuesday night that “he’s making progress for sure and he’s been able to swing a little bit. We will probably go slower than he wants on that, but you know, we’ll see. There’s a good chance he could at least do something this weekend.”
What’s Next?
Tennessee is back on the road this weekend to Columbia, South Carolina, to take on the Gamecocks. Vitello was happy that they were able to be in a tough environment last weekend because “it’s rowdy everywhere you go.”
“South Carolina’s [stadium] is bigger and like a minor league stadium. So it’s a fun park to go to. But obviously, winning is the most fun, and it’s a very difficult place to play… It won’t be our first road trip, so you’d like to think the guys will, regardless of what stat sheets say, will start to get a little more familiar with what it takes to have success on the road.” – Coach Vitello on a look ahead to the South Carolina series.
The first pitch against the Gamecocks comes on Friday at 7 PM EST.