Vols hit the 20-run mark for the third time this year, take midweek game against Alabama A&M 20-2

The kids showed out Tuesday night

Tennessee took advantage of the group of Alabama A&U pitchers who had difficulty throwing strikes and scored double-digit runs — again — even though it notched just 12 hits in the win.

Tony Vitello used this midweek game as an opportunity to get work for multiple guys who typically don’t play much both in the lineup and on the mound.

It was essentially a bullpen game from the jump, as Dylan Loy started and gave up a no-out single but got a fly-ball out and struck out two in the top of the first. It was the only inning he pitched in the game.

The offense got off to a quick start with a one-out Blake Burke double that Dylan Dreiling picked up an RBI on with his single on a 2-0 count.

The Bulldogs’ pitching staff struggled to get the ball over the plate all game, and it started with a Kavares Tears’ walk after Dreiling’s base-scoring knock. A&M got an out and then hit Hunter Ensley, which loaded the bases, and then hit Cannon Peebles next that gave Peebles an RBI without putting the ball in play. Bradke Lohry took a ball on a 3-1 count and Tennessee scored another run without hitting a pitch. Ariel Antigua lined out to end the frame, but the Vols led 3-0 after the first.

JJ Garcia took the ball in the T2 and struck out two of the three batters he faced, too while setting the Alabama A&M hitters down in order. The offense didn’t score a run in the second, but that ended up as the only zero in a frame for UT in the evening.

Tears notched another walk to start the third frame, and Vitello subbed in former Walters State CC transfer Colby Backus as a pinch runner. Backus ended up producing offensively and defensively later in the game, but managed to cross home in the T3 after he stole second and the Bulldog pitcher gave up three walks during the span of four batters. One out later, Christian Moore cleared the bases with a first-pitch double.

A Hunter High strikeout ended the inning, but Tennessee scored four runs on just one hit.

A&M scored its two runs in the fourth, both off freshman Matthew Dallas. The Tennessee native gave up a lead-off double and HBP to two of the first three hitters he faced before a double scored a run and a groundout to first scored another, Dallas ended the inning on a strikeout, which gave him two for the frame, but he ended up as the only Vols’ pitcher to give up a run.

The offense picked up where it left off with three in the fourth, one in the fifth and then an exclamation point nine-run sixth to induce the run-rule and ensure the game ended early.

I mentioned the kind of game Backus had earlier when he pitch ran and stole a base — here’s an absolute dime of a throw to get a runner trying to advance to third on a play in the fifth:

And then in the sixth he hit a two-run shot that went 400-plus feet and nearly cleared the party deck in left:

He ended the game 1-1 with 3R, 3 RBIs, 2BB and the home run and stolen base.

Some freshmen shined in the blowout, which of course included the seemingly imminent highlight play defensively from Antigua in the T6, and credit Robin Villenueve with the scoop, too:

Antigua was 0-3 at the plate until he finally got a hold of one and drove it all the way to the wall in center for a bases-clearing double in the B6, when the Vols’ lineup batted around. Antigua had already drawn a walk earlier in the half inning.

Freshman infielder Camden Bates hit his first collegiate home run in the sixth, right after Antigua took his free pass:

A&M used four pitchers in the game, and three of them accounted for 13 walks and two wild pitches. As a group, they accumulated five HBPs and threw just 85 strikes out of 176 total pitches.

Vitello used seven arms in seven innings, and they combined to give up 4H. 2R, 3BB and 12Ks. Marcus Phillips struggled some with his command, but he was sitting in the mid-90s with his fastball, and if Frank Anderson can get him right, Phillips would be a crucial regular addition to a bullpen that doesn’t have the heat in it that Tennessee’s had in previous seasons.

Luke Payne struck out three batters in the seventh to end the game, though he walked the lead-off man and threw a wild pitch.

The Vols have LSU coming to Knoxville Friday, with the game scheduled to start at 7:30 PM EST.