Tennessee baseball erases deficit, downs Western Carolina

Colby Backus led off the fifth inning with a home run, paving the way for a six-run frame that erased a deficit and headlined Tennessee's midweek rout of Western Carolina on Tuesday.

The No. 3 Vols, fresh off of an impressive SEC series win over a top five Kentucky team, trailed the Catamounts by a run past the midway point before an offensive onslaught provided a 12-4 victory at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

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Third baseman Billy Amick led the way, going 3-of-5 at the plate with seven RBIs, including a two-run home run and the go-ahead two-RBI single in the fifth. He homered again for three runs in the eighth.

Backus homered in his first start and center fielder Kavares Tears tallied the Vols' (34-7) third home run in the fifth as part of a three RBI performance.

Left-handed pitcher Andrew Behnke earned the win after getting Tennessee out of four-run frame that gave Western Carolina (21-17) the lead in the fourth and then preserving the Vols own lead with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed in 2.0 innings of work.

Tennessee

1. Christian Moore (R) - 2B

2. Blake Burke (L) - 1B

3. Billy Amick (R) - 3B

4. Kavares Tears (L) - CF

5. Dylan Dreiling (L) - LF

6. Dean Curley (R) - SS

7. Reese Chapman (L) - RF

8. Colby Backus (R) - DH

9. Cannon Peebles (B) - C

LHP Dylan Loy

Western Carolina

1. Kyle Riesselmann (R) - CF

2. Zach Ketterman (L) - 2B

3. Nate Stocum (L) - LF

4. Trent Turner (R) - SS

5. Hayden Friese (L) - RF

6. Jack Spyke (R) - 1B

7. Tafton Hensley (R) - DH

8. Mason Holton (R) - 3B

9. Kyle Harbison (R) - C

RHP Spencer Hamblen

After going down in order in the bottom half of the first inning, Tennessee made a little contact in the second.

Kavares Tears drew a lead off walk and passed ball and fly out to center allowed him to move to third. Curely scored him with a ground out to first to put the Vols up 1-0.

Blake Burke extended his hit-streak to 31 games with a two-out single up the middle in the third before Amick mashed a home run that covered 368 feet in left field to stretch the Tennessee lead to 3-0.

Though left-handed starting pitcher Dylan Loy got off to a strong start on the mound, an infield single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Western Carolina with no outs in the fourth, leading to right-handed reliever Brady Robertson taking over.

Robertson immediately tossed two strikes but his leash was shortened after a hit by pitch allowed a run to score and cut the Vols' advantage to 3-1. Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello went back to the bullpen, calling on left-hander Andrew Behnke.

Two ground out RBIs, including a Jack Spyke sacrifice bunt towards third allowed the Catamounts to draw even at 3-3. Curley looked like he was going to get the Vols out of the inning tied after stopping a grounder but his throw to Burke at first one-hopped and Western Carolina went in front, 4-3.

Playing from behind in the fifth, Backus led off with a homer to left to tie it and Cannon Peebles followed it up with a double into shallow left to get into scoring position with no outs.

A Christian Moore single through the left side put runners on the corners and Burke drew a walk to load the bases for Amick.

For the second time, Amick drove in two runs with a single to center to put Tennessee back in the lead, then Tears blew it open with a three-run homer to swell the lead to 9-4.

A relatively quiet, scoreless two innings followed before Amick added to the Vols' lead with his second home run, a three-run no-doubter into the porches in left to put the finishing touches on the win.

1. Billy Amick two-run home run extends Tennessee's lead in the third inning.

2. Colby Backus evens the score with a lead off solo home run in the fifth.

3. Kavares Tears blows game open with three-run home run in the fifth.

Tennessee will continue its home stand with a three-game series against Missouri this weekend.

The Vols, who are currently second in the SEC East standings, will look to cover more ground in the division race against the Tigers starting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network). The series will continue with Game 2 on Friday and conclude with Game 3 on Saturday.

Missouri (18-23, 6-12 SEC) is coming off of a series loss to LSU in conference play and a midweek tilt against Missouri State on Tuesday.

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