Four Quick Takes on a gritty win over LSU
Tennessee battled back to pick up the 3-1 win over LSU in game two of the series Saturday night from Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Here’s four quick takes on the series-clinching win for the Big Orange.
Beam danced with fire, but man did he find a way
It looked good on the box score, but it was certainly a trip to get there.
It was a quick and efficient first inning for Beam but it didn’t come without some scares. Tommy White singled to first with one out and moved to second on an Ashton Larson single that followed. With two outs, Hayden Travinski single dup the middle but second baseman Christian Moore dove to make the stop and threw behind White at third base to catch him off the bag. Three hits in the first but nothing to show for it as Beam left two stranded.
Beam once again danced with fire in the second – but the one unearned run that scored could have been so much worse. Michael Braswell led off with a double and Paxton King walked behind him. Steven Milam then reached on a two-base throwing error from third baseman Billy Amick as the throw to first base was well off the marker, allowing a run to score.
With runners at second and third with no outs and already a run on the board for LSU, Beam buckled down for two strikeouts and then a groundout to escape what could have been a huge inning for LSU.
The righty once again allowed the leadoff man to reach to begin the third and has runners at first and second with only one out, but a 6-4-3 double play erased any worry in the scoreless frame. Beam allowed the leadoff man to single for the third-straight frame to begin the fourth, but struck out Jared Jones to strand the runner in scoring position at second base.
Tommy White led off the fifth with a single to centerfield, making hit four-straight in the category. A flyout, strikeout and ground out followed to strand yet another runner in scoring position for Beam. The junior made it threw five innings for the eighth time in nine starts this season as the only time he didn’t accomplish the feat was against Georgia.
Beam retired three of his last four batters faced and was finally lifted with two outs in the seventh inning. He topped out at a season-high 106 pitches (67 strikes) as his previous high was 101 pitches in eight innings at Alabama. He allowed only one unearned run despite eight hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
Beam got hit around a lot in this one, but when push came to shove, he found a way. That’s back-to-back really solid efforts from the Tennessee junior.
Holman was GREAT and then the sixth inning happened
Though Tennessee’s Drew Beam was dancing with fire all night throughout another solid start, LSU’s Luke Holman was simply splendid while making life miserable for the Vols all night.
Tennessee was no-hit through the first fiveinnings of the ballgame as Holman faced the minimum in three of those frames. The only base runners he allowed during the five no-hit innings were consecutive one-out walks in the second (where Tennessee left two runners stranded in scoring position) and a walk in the third.
The Vols finally cracked the hit column in the bottom of the sixth when Blake Burke’s one-out infield single gave Tennessee only its third base runner of the day at the time. Billy Amick then followed with a double to put two runners on. With two outs, LSU opted to take Holman out of the game in favor of lefty Griffin Herring to go up against left-handed hitting Dylan Dreiling. The move was the wrong one as Dreiling’s two-run single to right field handed the Vols their first lead of the ballgame at 2-1.
Holman’s final line read 5.2 innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts and three walks on 91 total pitches with 57 strikes. He was fantastic through five hitless innings and was in line for the loss after the sixth inning.
Because of course it was Blake Burke starting the rally
Tennessee’s offense was in no man’s land for the first half of the ballgame – as mentioned above due to Luke Holman’s brilliance. The Vols were no-hit through the first out of the sixth inning before the best hitter in the order came up to spark the rally for the home team.
Burke’s one-out, infield single extended his hit-streak to 25 games. He previously walked earlier in the ballgame to extend his on-base streak up to 33 games. But it was just what Tennessee needed as Billy Amick immediately followed with a double and they both later came around to score on the Dylan Dreiling two-run single.
After not registering a base hit through the first 5.1 innings of the game, Tennessee logged three in one inning and took a 2-1 lead int the seventh. The Vols went on to tally five hits on the night and were led by Dreiling with the critical two-run single in the sixth inning. Billy Amick also homered in the eighth inning.
Nate Snead slams the door shut
Every out was huge as the game entered the home stretch. Tennessee wanted to go ahead and pick up the series-win on Saturday in game two, thus it summoned the hard-throwing right-hander in Nate Snead from the bullpen beyond right field to begin the eighth and to collect the final six out of the ballgame. Mission accomplished as Snead’s third save of the year might have been his biggest as he protected the slim lead.
It was a quick 1-2-3 inning in the eighth as Snead got Hayden Travinski to pop out and he struck out Michael Braswell III and Paxton King in consecutive fashion. Thanks to a Billy Amick solo home run in the eighth, Snead had two runs to work with in the ninth when he worked around a one-out single to induce a Tommy White flyout to end the ballgame as he represented the tying run.
Snead was fiery in his appearance, and rightfully so as it was a big one. And on 23 pitches total, he’s likely available in game three if needed.
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