By Lohan Sutton
Volunteers won in commanding fashion over Oakland 11-2. A few Vols made their season debut before SEC play starts.
Starting the game, Taylor Tracey took the mound for the Volunteers. The freshman got to work early, striking out the first two batters.
Tennessee got out to an early lead in the first, with RBIs from Blaine Brown and Blake Grimmer helping the Volunteers jump to a three-run lead. This was Grimmer’s first time in the lineup this season following an injury.
“So today was a really cool day to be able to get everybody in the mix,” said Tennessee head coach Josh Elander.
Tracey would go on to strike out seven of the nine batters through the opening three innings.
The bats continued to heat up in the third and fourth innings for Tennessee, with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth by Brown growing the Volunteer lead to eight.
Oakland scored solo home runs in the top of the sixth and seventh innings, which accounted for its only scores in the game.
In the bottom of the seventh, Tennessee junior Ariel Antigua got his first home run as a Volunteer. Antigua drove in three runs on a deep shot to left field.
Garrett Wright also made his way back into the lineup for this game following an injury that had kept him out. Starting at center field, he backed up the strong pitching staff. Wright earned two hits and one RBI in the game.
In the bottom of the eighth, Wright earned a single, but awkward contact reaggravated his arm. As Tennessee looks ahead, he still feels ready to continue in the lineup.
“I would say pretty close. It’s kind of just like a day-to-day thing with pain, as we saw on my last swing today,” said Wright.
Tennessee racked up 15 total strikeouts this game and gave up only four hits.
The Volunteers will be back home March 6 for a weekend series against Wright State starting at 6:30 p.m.