On Tuesday night, the fourth ranked (according to the USA Today Coaches’ Poll) Tennessee baseball team (24-5, 7-2) locked horns with the Colonels from Eastern Kentucky. These two teams met earlier in the year at Lindsey Nelson, with the Vols taking the win by a 13-5 final. Tennessee would see similar success in game two.
Tennessee utilized Jake Fitzgibbons to start the game, but then did something we haven’t see from them yet: The team used nine pitchers over nine innings, giving each arm an inning of their own. Only Zander Sechrist would be charged with a run; Will Mabrey struck out three in his inning of work; and Jason Rackers (1-0) would earn the win.
Tennessee began its offensive night in the first inning when Trey Lipscomb doubled in a pair of runs. In that same inning, another run was brought in thanks to a Luc Lipcius sacrifice fly. To conclude the first inning scoring, Logan Steenstra doubled and plated one more run, resulting in a 4-0 Volunteer lead after the first.
In the fourth, the Colonels’ Ewell singled up the middle, scoring EKU’s first and only run of the game. As the game headed into the bottom of the fourth inning, Tennessee controlled its 4-1 lead, and would add another on a Jake Rucker single, which scored a run, making it 5-1.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, a Steenstra single scored a pair before a Joel Ortega single scored another. By inning’s end, it was 8-1 Tennessee. The Vols added their final tallies in the in the bottom of the eighth courtesy of a Jordan Beck double, which brought in two runs, and helped to secure a 10-1 win.
Of note, Rucker had a pair of hits in the game; Lipscomb contributed two of his own in addition to a couple RBIs; Steenstra had the biggest offensive day, going 2-for-4 and driving in three runs.
Tennessee improved its record to 25-5 Tuesday night. The team will turn its attention back to SEC play when they host the 11th ranked Florida Gators over the weekend. Those games are scheduled for 6:30, 7:00, and 1:00 pm, respectively, and are set to take place at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville.
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