By Abigail Doperak
On Tuesday, the No. 19 ranked Tennessee Volunteers baseball team mercy-ruled Tennessee Tech, winning 20-2 in seven innings.
Tennessee recorded its 13th win of the season, while scoring 20 runs for the first time since defeating Radford last year on March 4.
The Volunteers entered the night after winning a weekend series against Wright State 2-1, though their most recent game was a 6-0 loss Sunday.
Tennessee scored a total of nine runs during the series and looked to bounce back with a win before upcoming conference play.
The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles entered the matchup after a losing weekend against Georgia Southern, with their most recent game an 11-6 loss Sunday.
The game opened with Lawson Sticklin pitching for the Golden Eagles, while Taylor Tracey took the mound for the Volunteers.
Tennessee Tech recorded one hit in the top of the first inning before Tennessee set the tone for the rest of the game with nine runs in the home half of the inning.
Garrett Wright started the offensive outburst with a leadoff home run.
The momentum continued when Reese Chapman hit a grand slam, driving in Blaine Brown, Henry Ford, and Blake Grimmer to give Tennessee a 5-0 lead.
Tennessee Tech replaced Stricklin on the mound with Eli Huddleston, who was unable to stop the bleeding.
With the bases loaded, Brown drew a walk to score another run. Ford followed with a three-run double, extending the lead to 9-0 to close the inning.
The Golden Eagles recorded another hit in the second inning, while Tennessee added two more runs on a home run by Manny Marin, driving in Chapman, and extending the Volunteer lead to 11-0.
Tennessee Tech found some success in the top of the third inning when Cade Fuller hit a solo home run to put the Golden Eagles on the board.
The Golden Eagles brought in Braxton Lewis to replace Huddleston, but Tennessee added two more runs before the inning ended, making it 13-1.
Tennessee made its first pitching change in the top of the fourth inning, replacing Tracey with Ethan Baiotto.
The Golden Eagles then brought in Ty Barnett to replace Lewis, but Tennessee added three more runs on an RBI double from Abernathy, and a two-run home run from Ford.
Chandler Day took over for Baiotto in the top of the fifth inning for the Volunteers.
Another pitching change followed in the top of the sixth, when Sawyer Deering replaced Day.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Justin Fallon replaced Barnett on the mound for Tennessee Tech, but struggled mightily and was quickly replaced by Micah Summar.
Outfielder Nate Eisfelder hit a towering grand slam to drive in Finley Bates, Levi Clark, and Hunter High, extending the Tennessee lead to an astounding 20-1.
Will Haas replaced Deering in the top of the seventh inning, followed by Jax Bishop, who finished the game.
The Golden Eagles added one more run in the seventh inning when Owen Lee drove in Landon Smelser, bringing the final score to 20-2.
“I think there was a fire lit under some of us,” Tennessee catcher Stone Lawless said. “[We] obviously have not played up to the standard we’ve set, so I just think… the guys [are] just fed up being mediocre.”
Tennessee Tech finished with five hits and a .192 batting average, compared with Tennessee’s 17 hits and .515 average.
Tuesday’s win becomes even more important when considering the fact that SEC play will commence this weekend.
“It’s stuff that we already know as a group,” Lawless added. “I think it’s just time to show it. We are playing the big boys now, where everyone is good in this league, and if we don’t hook it up each day, then it won’t be fun.”
No. 19 Tennessee (13-4) will begin a three-game series with the No. 8 Georgia Bulldogs (15-3) in Athens, GA, on Friday, March 13 at 6 PM.