Tennessee's lineup combined for three home runs and starting pitcher Tegan Kuhns and reliever Brayden Krenzel were masterful as the No. 1 Vols beat No. 12 Alabama, 9-2 to win their second-straight SEC series at Thomas-Sewell Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.
Tennessee (22-2, 5-1 SEC) scored first for the third-straight game, with Andrew Fischer, Dalton Bargo and Reese Chapman each hitting home runs as part of a 15-hit performance from the lineup.
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Hunter Ensley was 2-for-6 with three RBIs, while Ariel Antigua went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Kuhns allowed just one hit and two walks and struck out five in 4.1 innings of work before Krenzel (1-0) took over in the fifth inning, giving up three hits, one run and six strike outs in 4.1 innings for the win.
The Crimson Tide (22-3, 5-1) scored one run in the eighth and another in the ninth before Tanner Franklin closed the game out with a strikeout.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Dalton Bargo tripled to right-center field to lead off the second inning, and Reese Chapman lined out to left to score him in the at-bat.
For the third-straight game, Tennessee led first.
The Vols were in position to add more in the frame, loading the bases on two walks and a hit-by-pitch, but a fly out and strikeout held Tennessee’s lead at 1-0.
The Alabama lineup had no answers for Tegan Kuhns in the second, then the Vols stretched their lead to 3-0 after Andrew Fischer and Bargo in back-to-back at-bats.
The Vols added another in the fourth when Ariel Antigua scored on a wild pitch, and Reese Chapman mashed Tennessee's third home run of the afternoon with a solo shot to right to go up 5-0 in the fifth.
The Crimson Tide, which had been held in check by Kuhns in the first six innings, threatened in the sixth singles from Coleman Mizell and Jason Torres off of reliever Brayden Krenzel. But Krenzel struck out Will Hodo to get out of the inning unscathed.
The Vols added some cushion in the seventh, starting with Antigua's RBI up the middle in to score Chapman. Hunter Ensley blew the game open in the four at-bats later with a bases-loaded double to left that scored Dean Curley and Antigua to swell the Vols' lead to 9-0.
Alabama got on the board in the eighth, scoring its first run on a ground-out RBI from Justin Lebron to trim the Tennessee lead to 9-1 heading into the ninth.
Brandon Arvidson pitched for the Vols in the ninth and struck out Torres and Hodo to start the frame, but a walk and single put two on for the Crimson Tide and Ryan Combs was called out of the bullpen to try and close it out.
Combs gave up an RBI single from Will Plattner a few pitches in and Tanner Franklin ended up being the fourth arm from the Tennessee bullpen instead. For the second-straight game, Franklin closed the door with a strike out, catching Richie Bolomono Jr. looking on the final pitch and stranding two runners for good.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will return to Knoxville for a midweek tilt against Queens on Tuesday (6 p.m. ET, SEC Network+) at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
It is the Vols' only home game amid a seven-game stretch that features six games on the road. Tennessee will go back on the road to face South Carolina in a three-game series at Founders Park in Columbia next weekend.
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