Four Quick Takes on an opening win at Clemson Regional
Tennessee made quick work of Charlotte on Friday night, handling the 49ers by a final score of 8-1. With the victory, Tennessee now moves on to play top-seed and host Clemson on Saturday at 6 o’clock eastern time for a chance to clinch a spot in the regional championship game.
Andrew Lindsey (3-2) was magnificent yet again, tossing a career-high 116 pitches and tying a career-high of 10 strikeouts. The righty allowed one run off four hits and walked one in the ballgame – responding well after a 30-pitch first inning. Colin Krammer (6-5) is charged with the loss after allowing five runs in just two innings of work.
The Vols (39-19) scored in each of the first four innings of the ballgame and finished the night plating eight runs off 11 hits. Charlotte (34-27), who moves on to play 4-seed Lipscomb in an elimination game on Saturday at noon, tapped out with the one run off six hits.
What were the four biggest takeaways for the Volunteers as the 2-seed easily tops the 3-seed? We discuss on Volquest.
CMO & Vols strike first
Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore put the Vols up early in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs and runners at the corners, the keystone player drove a 2-2 pitch the other way into the alleyway and to the wall in right-centerfield. Maui Ahuna, who led off the inning with a walk, scored easily from third base while Griffin Merritt hustled all the way around from first to score on the second hit of the inning. The Vols even caught a break, you could say, when the ball got hung up under the wall for maybe a second – allowing Merritt another step or two.
The hit gave Tennessee some early confidence as Andrew Lindsey labored through 30 pitches in the first inning to collect the first three outs of the ballgame. It’s also worth noting, Moore continues to torch left-handed pitching. The infielder entered the game averaging .345 against southpaws and carried that energy into his first at-bat that handed Tennessee a two-run lead.
Later in the third, Moore homered off the lefty, handing the Vols a 5-0 lead. Charlotte starting pitcher Collin Krammer was then removed from the game as the 49ers went to an early bullpen.
Little two-out rally in the fourth
It looked like for the first time on the night, Tennessee was going to be retired in order for a quick 1-2-3 fourth inning. The Vols instead sparked a little two out rally to score three runs off three hits, blowing the game wide open to an 8-0 advantage for the Big Orange.
Cal Stark struck out to begin the frame before Maui Ahuna flew out to left field for a quick two outs. Hunter Ensley and Jared Dickey followed with back-to-back singles before Griffin Merritt cleared the bases with a towering home run over the left-centerfield wall. The blast was so far that it hit the overhang that covers part of the stands in left-centerfield. The long ball was home run No. 18 on the year for Merritt and it was his second hit of the ballgame.
Andrew Lindsey with another stud performance
Tennessee’s No. 1 starter battled and battled through a 30-pitch first inning. He did well, stranding the bases loaded to escape trouble. But it was not easy and made for an uphill climb out of the gate – pitch count wise. How did he respond? Well, the totaled just 35 pitches combined over the next three innings and sat well through four scoreless at 65 pitches and a five-run lead. Lindsey went from 30 pitches to 14, 10 and 11 in the proceeding frames.
Tennessee’s righty retired 12-straight at one point in the ballgame and tallied a trio of 1-2-3 frames. The Vols have now won the past six games Andrew Lindsey has started. Despite the rough first inning, the junior allowed just one run while tapping out at seven innings strong of four-hit baseball. He tied a career-high of 10 strikeouts (did so against Vanderbilt, too) and only one walk. Lindsey finished with a career-high 116 pitches, 75 of which were strikes, against his former team.
“It looked similar to the last outing. You all mentioned the starting pitching — and really the bullpen increasingly got a little better. Just kind of inching along, a little bit better,” Tony Vitello said postgame on Lindsey’s start. “To kind of pick up where he left off is what I was thinking. If you look at their home run numbers, it is different numbers and right left and all that, but a similar feel to South Carolina’s lineup. It was good for him to not just get us as deep into the game as he did because we rode the pitch count pretty good, but also for him to have to grind out some tough situations like the first inning and there were a couple others tomorrow.”
Heart of the order getting it done
Each of the first five batters in Tennessee’s order tallied a base hit in the ballgame, but it was the heart of the Volunteers lineup card that went off on Friday night. Jared Dickey and Griffin Merritt both registered three hits in the contest while Christian Moore added two massive knocks right behind them. The trio combined seven of the team’s eight runs and combined to score four runs in the process. Maui Ahuna registered the only other RBI on the night.
Dickey singled three times. Merritt singled twice and launched a no-doubter over the left-centerfield wall for a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Moore’s two hits were both for extra bases as his double in the first plated Tennessee’s first two runs of the game and his home run in the third in leadoff variety put the Vols ahead at 5-0. That’s the time of production you want from the heart of your order.
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