Gavin Kilen had two swings in the first three innings. Both were home runs.

In what has become a trend for No. 3 Tennessee's new-look lineup, the transfer infielder was the latest player to homer twice in one game, these opening the way for a 5-2 win over Oklahoma State to open the Astros Foundation College Classic at Daikin Park in Houston Friday.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Take your pick on who the headliner was for the Vols (9-0), though.

Liam Doyle (3-0) was equally masterful in his third start. The right hander tossed nine strikeouts and allowed just three hits in 4.1 scoreless innings. And he had a strong supporting cast, too.

Twice, Tennessee's infield and outfield quickly turned base running opportunities for the Cowboys (4-4) into inning-ending plays in the first three innings, and Oklahoma State never recovered.

Back at the plate, the Vols' lineup accounted for X home runs. Freshman Manny Marin and Dean Curley totaled one each in the fourth inning, one of two RBIs for Curley.

The Cowboys scored in the seventh and eighth innings, but Nate Snead got Tennessee across the finish line in the ninth. Reliever Dylan Loy (1-0), who threw two strikeouts in his short outing in his 0.2 innings of work, earned the win.

Liam Doyle tosses two quick strikeouts to start, then looked a little more human when he face Nolan Schubert in the first inning.

Schubert walked to give Oklahoma State a little momentum with two outs, but when he decided to try and steal a second in the following at-bat, Cannon Peebles gunned him down from behind home plate to get Tennessee out of the inning unscathed.

Gavin Kilen made a statement in his first at-bat in the bottom half. With one out, Kilen sent a no-doubter to the second deck in right field to put the Vols ahead 1-0 early.

Cowboys' starter Gabe Davis managed to limit the damage there, and Colin Brueggemann doubled to the gape in right-center in the following frame to put a runner in scoring position for Oklahoma State for the first time with out.

Doyle got out of it again, following it up with a strikeout and pop up to Andrew Fischer at first to send Tennessee back up to the plate in the bottom second.

The Vols threatened again without having to swing. Peebles was hit by a pitch and Manny Marin drew a walk with one out, but Davis recovered with back-to-back strikeouts to hold off Tennessee in the inning.

Again, the Cowboys had a chance for something in the third and were again burned by the Vols' defense. This time, it was Brayden Smith, who singled to right and tried to turn it into a double only for Reese Chapman to throw him out and end the frame.

And just like the first time Tennessee snatched away momentum from Oklahoma State, the Vols' followed it up with deflating swing in the next inning. It was Kilen again in the bottom third, mashing his second home run to left to stretch the lead to 2-0.

Levi Clark, put into the starting lineup for the first time after an impressive two weekends in a pinch-hitting role, paid off an 11-pitch at-bat with a single to left that moved Fischer into scoring position at second with one out.

Tennessee was unable to take advantage of it, though, stranding a pair of runners for the second-straight inning.

The Vols might not have been making the most base runners, but it hardly mattered with Doyle on the mound. He sat Oklahoma State down in order in the fourth, throwing his sixth, seventh and eighth strikeouts to keep the Cowboys scoreless through four.

Manny Marin contributed to Tennessee's nation-best home run record with his career first homer to left to lead off the fourth and up the Vols' advantage to 3-0, forcing Oklahoma State into a pitching change.

Right-handed reliever Stormy Rhodes took over for Davis with no outs and three-run deficit to try and overcome. He immediately got a strikeout, but Dean Curley mashed his fourth home run of the season to right and Tennessee led 4-0.

Oklahoma State starting to put together its best inning in the fifth, using a Brueggemann and a walk to post two runners with one out. It was enough for the Vols to pull Doyle after another dominant outing.

Dylan Loy was tasked with getting Tennessee out of its first jam, which he did with two-straight strikeouts to again leave the Cowboys empty-handed.

Tanner Franklin took over the sixth and followed suit with a quick 1-2-3 frame with one pitch hitting 101.7 according to Statcast. The Vols were productive productive in the bottom half, scoring again on a Curley ground-out RBI that scored Marin and swelled the Tennessee lead to 5-0.

Oklahoma State got on the board in the seventh off of a Brueggemann home run to left off of Franklin, but that was all the Cowboys could muster in the inning.

Donovan LaSalle cut into the Vols' lead again in the eighth with a ground-rule double that scored Garrett Shull before Tennessee got out of the inning with a 5-2 edge after Franklin's fifth punch-out stranded a runner at third.

The Cowboys got a runner on first with one out in the ninth, but Nate Snead closed the door.

Tennessee will face Rice in its second game in the Astros Foundation College Classic on Saturday.

The Owls (2-6) opened the classic with a 14-3 run-rule loss to Mississippi State in eight innings earlier Friday.

Right-handed pitcher Marcus Phillips will start for the Vols. He has previously started Game 2 in each of Tennessee's first two weekend series. He holds a 1.04 ERA in both starts this season.

The Vols will play Arizona (5-3) in Game 3 on Sunday (11:05 a.m. ET).

Both games will stream on Astros.com and the Space City Home Network.

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.