Vols use six pitchers but dingers from Tears, Villeneuve, Amick help UT bring High Point down 7-4

Tennessee hits at least one HR in every game so far this year (UTSports dot com)

Tennessee’s two leaders in batting average for the still-young season, Kavares Tears (.462) and Robin Villeneuve (.563), combined to go 5-7 with four RBIs, a double each and Tears’ team-leading fourth home run (tied with Billy Amick, who also went 2-4 with a HR) as the Vols downed High Point 7-4.

Freshman lefty Matthew Dallas got his second start of the season and out there throwing whatever makes the term “fastball,” an understatement. Though he struggled getting the ball over the plate — five total walks and a HBP in just 2.2 IP — he didn’t surrender a hit, a run or a walk and struck out three.

He had some room to work from early on, with a Blake Burke, one-out walk followed by a Billy Amick single and a Tears walk. Villeneuve smacked the first pitch offered to left that plated Burke and Amick for a 2-0 Tennessee lead in the bottom of the first.

Two of Dallas’ walks came in the second inning, while he finished the frame with his third K on an 0-2 pitch:

The B2 was rather forgettable for the offense as fHunter Ensley, Alex Perry and Christian Moore went down in order, with Perry and Moore both getting sat down via K.

Dallas made it two outs through the third before getting pulled, with one of the out coming via another fantastic play by one of UT’s outfielders. This time, it was Dylan Dreiling in left with the diving catch to prevent an extra-base hit.

A 3-2 walk, a HBP and a four-pitch walk was enough for Vitello, and he gave Dallas the hook in favor of Austin Hunley. The former Vols’ little brother gave up his first two runs of the season after going 3.1 IP and giving up 3 H, 0 R and 0 BB with 2Ks against UNC Asheville a week ago.

Tonight, he lasted just ²⁄₃ of an inning despite getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the third with just one unofficial pitch. Cannon Peebles rocketed a ball to first while Burke made a rather athletic play to get the out.

UT’s lone run in the B3 was Tears’ shot to right field. Especially at the start of the game, the wind was blowing at a good 15-20 MPH, from right to left, which caused a number of fly balls to die in the outfield. But Tears’ shot was more of a line drive, with a launch angle of just 20.4 degrees (typically 25-30 degrees is ideal, but exit velocity is normally the more important factor to consider) and had enough exit velo at 103 MPH to get out of the park.

The T4 is when we saw Hunley implode as he gave up three-straight singles to start the frame. The third hit plated HPU’s first run and placed a runner in scoring position. Hunley got the first out of the inning before Vitello subbed him out for Chris Stamos. Stamos gave up a run via a sacrifice ground ball to shortstop and then ended the frame with a three-pitch backwards K.

Hitters six, seven, eight and nine put up a zero even though they were gifted a one-out walk in the bottom half of the fourth, which started two consecutives zeroes on the scoreboard for the bats.

High Point kicked off the fifth with a single, a strikeout and a walk, which was enough to put a RISP and have Vitello take out Stamos for Andrew Behnke. Behnke got an out at second on a fielder’s choice, but the hit to third was enough to advance a runner 90 feet from home. The runner on first stole second, and Behnke walked the next batter on four pitches.

With a one-run lead and the bases loaded, Behnke got the third-strike call on an inside, off-speed offering that ended HPU’s T5 threat.

Behnke walked the first batter in the sixth, and Vitello brought in Kirby Connell since HPU had a right-handed batter up next. Connell got him via pickoff and then struck out the next two hitters, with the last one coming on three-straight pitches.

UT added two more runs in the sixth from a Tears’ lead-off double that Villeneuve followed with his own, run-scoring double.

Peebles took the first pitch he got to right for a single that scored Villeneuve before getting caught stealing for out No. 2. Ensley …ensleyed… the inning with a strikeout.

Connell got two outs in the seventh but also gave up two doubles and his first run of the year. That brought out Vitello again, this time for the last time, as he went to hurler Nate Snead. Snead struck out the last batter on three pitches.

Tennessee’s flamethrower hit triple digits more than once in his 2.1 IP, striking out five while giving up 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB and getting the save.

The offense had a bit more juice left for the B8 when it added its final two runs of the game. Billy Amick hit his fourth HR of the year when he hammered a 1-1 pitch 409 feet to the party deck in left.

Tears singled after the HR, and two batters later Peebles doubled him home on a full-count pitch.

For the game, Tennessee scored its seven runs on nine hits while stranding just four runners. Once again, the offense was carried by Tears, Amick and Villeneuve who combined for seven hits, five RBIs and two HRs.

The Vols play Bowling Green in the weekend series, with Friday’s first pitch going out at 6:30 PM EST.