Five Quick Takes on a midweek victory over Austin Peay
It wasn’t pretty and the game took nearly four hours to play, but Tennessee ran away from Austin Peay for the 9-4 midweek victory at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on a Tuesday night.
The Vols (33-16) tallied nine runs off 10 hits – highlights by a five-run third inning that including a grand slam from Tennessee catcher Charlie Taylor. The Governors (23-26) registered four runs off seven hits, scoring three runs in the sixth when Tennessee walked four batters in the frame.
Aaron Combs (4-0) picked up the win on the mound after tossing just 0.2 innings where he allowed two hits and a walk but struck out a pair as well. Kyle Magrans (3-2) is charged with the loss as he allowed the five runs in the third inning on four hits with two walks.
Tennessee remains at home this weekend to play host to Kentucky for Southeastern Conference play, but first, how did this one happen for the Volunteers?
Alright Chuck!
Tennessee reserve catcher Charlie Taylor blew the game wide open in the bottom of the third. Picking up the midweek start, the redshirt-sophomore came to the plate with the bases juiced and jumped on the first ball he saw. The result? A 410-foot bomb that cleared the centerfield wall on 100 miles per hour exit velocity. It was his third home run of the season and his eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh run batted in on the year.
Jared Dickey and Blake Burke reached base on back-to-back singles to kick off the frame. Christian Moore’s single brought in Dickey – though he was helped out by the bobble in centerfield. Zane Denton reached on a fielder’s choice and Christian Scott walked a couple of batters later. The bases were then loaded for the No. 9 hitter in the lineup and Charlie Taylor went to work.
All the dude does is hit
With his single up the middle in the third inning, Tennessee slugger Jared Dickey ran his hit-streak up to 12-straight games. The base knock extended the longest hitting-streak from any Volunteer on the year as Griffin Merritt and Hunter Ensley each tallied 10-straight games with hits on the season. Dickey entered the game leading the team with a .341 average as he finished 2-for-5 at the plate on the day. During the current streak, Dickey has produced multi-hit days on eight times.
Hunter Ensley’s streak actually ended tonight as well as the centerfielder finished 0-for-3 at the dish. He did walk, however, extending his on-base streak to 11-straight games.
Too many free passes
Yes, it’s midweek. The approach on the mound is to get guys some work and to stay away from guys who are used regularly on the weekends. No one usually goes more than an inning, if that, and there’s not a true ‘starter’ in the ballgame. Zander Sechrist ‘opens’ the ballgame, but that’s about all he is allowed. Despite this reserve approach, the Austin Peay three runs off just one hit was not Tennessee’s finest hour.
Two singles put a pair of Governors on with no outs. Four-straight walks brought in two runs and then an out later, another walk allowed the third run of the inning to cross home plate. Not surprising, Tennessee walked a season-high 10 batters on Tuesday. The next closest mark was six at Arkansas on April 15 and against Tennessee Tech at home.
Oh, you wanna fight?
Paul Rector, ladies and gentlemen. You probably won’t remember him for being the Governors’ reliever who tossed a scoreless sixth inning. You do remember him, however, for being the player who incited a near ugly scene at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Thankfully when all the dust settled, no punches were thrown, and no ejections were handed out on Tennessee’s side – but that wasn’t always the case. No, midweek baseball got extra weird here tonight.
What started the whole mess was Blake Burke sliding into home plate on a throw and tag that beat him to end the frame. He made contact with the catcher while sliding, who was standing right in front of the plate. The player fell awkwardly to the ground and the pitcher who was backing up the throw immediately took exception to what he thought was a rough slide – standing over Burke (still on the ground) and what can be assumed as talking trach.
Players from both benches emptied out but no shoving happened and no punches were thrown. Umpires and coaches got the situation under control in a hurry. It appeared that Tennessee’s Hunter Ensley was ejected from the baseball game, but No. 9 was heading back out onto the field for the next half inning. In reality, it was Rector who was tossed as he started the whole mess.
Not a situation you want to be in and the Southeastern Conference will certainly be reviewing the incident, but all in all, there wasn’t much going on. It could have been worse.
Home Run milestones
With four home runs tonight, the Vols surpassed the century mark for dingers on the year, now sitting at 103. It’s the second-straight season Tennessee has hit 100+ home runs and third time ever in program history. Last year’s 158 long ball was easily a program-record while the 107 hit back in 1998 was the previous high-mark. This team should take over that second-place slot in the next game or two.
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