by Jay King
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After rain was forecast for Sunday, April 6th, it was decided to be a doubleheader on Saturday. The first game was at 3 p.m., and the second was at 7 p.m.
The first game did not go the Vols’ way, to say the least. The Vols started alright with a solo shot by Dalton Bargo in the second at-bat of the game. At the top of the second, the Aggies traded homers with the Vols with a solo shot by Caden Sorrell to tie it up. The Vols then responded in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Stone Lawless to send Chris Newstrom home on an interference call. Tennessee then led 2-1.
After that, it was all Aggies. A home run by Bear Harrison tied up the ballgame 2-2 in the fourth inning, and after that, they never trailed again. The scoring broke out on a Jace LaViolette two-run home run, and after that, the scoring broke out 4-1 for the rest of the game in A&M’s favor.
This game was a sloppy one for the Vols defensively, as they had two errors, including a run being scored from third on a dropped strike three. Add on giving up 11 runs and three walks, and it was not the game for them on the defensive end.
The Aggies, on the other hand, had a great game defensively as they played in a strong shift versus lefty batters. It seemed to be successful in the first game.
The hitting for the Vols was undisciplined as they were only able to draw one walk all game, and only got two hits past the sixth inning.
This led to them falling in the first game, 3-9. Could the Vols bounce back and clinch the series in game three? The answer is no.
This game was over before it started. A&M won this game wire-to-wire, as they didn’t trail once. It all started when catcher Bear Harrison hit a three run home run in the top of the first. The Vols then went scoreless and hitless in the first two innings.
In the third inning, A&M scored on a Caden Sorrell RBI single to extend the lead, 4-0. The Vols then responded by scoring two runs on their own, including a Dean Curley RBI single, and a run scoring from a sacrifice steal attempt by Curley to bring in Cannon Peebles.
After that, it was all Aggies again in the fourth and fifth innings, as they got six home runs, including two solo shots by Ben Royo, two homers by Wyatt Henseler, one being three runs, and the other two runs, a two-run home run by Kaeden Kent, and a solo home run by Caden Sorrell. By that point, it was 14-2 Aggies. The Vols had to use three different pitchers in this stretch, including Brayden Krenzel, Dylan Loy, and Brayden Sharp.
It was tough for the Vols to respond to this, as they only got one run in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice groundout by Dean Curley to get Chris Newstrom home.
After a few scoreless innings by Tanner Franklin it looked like the Vols were about to get run-ruled in the bottom of the seventh. That was until Hunter Ensley took a pitch yard for a three-run home run to make the game 6-14. The Vols were unable to keep up, though, as the Aggies scored thrice in the top of the eighth on a two-run RBI single by Hayden Schott and an RBI single by Terrence Kiel II, to make the score 17-6. Kaiden Wilson then got a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game in the bottom of the eighth for an easy Aggie win.
If there were positives for the Vols, it was that the defense was better in the second game, as they didn’t commit any errors, and they had a few nice plays in the field. Also, Dalton Bargo was able to adapt to the shift for a double early on in the game. When asked about this, Bargo said, “[I] back[ed] up the ball… back[ed] up my contact point, and found success that way.”
Head Coach Tony Vitello said this about what needs to improve for the Vols in the future, “I would say the biggest thing is Game Two should be pretty similar to what a game two is talking about today. And then, you know, in between, it matters… more times than not, Game Two is affected by game one… You better have a good mindset based off of what the first game was, and the way our guys should have responded after the first game was again, be more determined to get after it and have a little grit to them.”
The Vols’ next home game is this Tuesday, April 8, as they take on the Alabama State Hornets at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in preparation for their away series next weekend versus the ninth-ranked Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford.