Tennessee faced its first semblance of resistance in three games against Hofstra Sunday. It had an emphatic response.
After the Pride took their first lead of the weekend in the first inning, the No. 4 Vols immediately punched back--with the help of a few Hofstra miscues--with 12 runs in two innings on their way to a series-sweeping 13-1 win in seven innings at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
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It was teetering on the brink of its third-straight run-rule when Reese Champman stepped up to the plate in the second inning. He got Tennessee (3-0) past the threshold with a grand slam that headlined an eight-run frame.
It was one of five RBIs for Chapman and the second grand slam for the Vols in three games after totaling an SEC record 12 last season.
Tennessee's lineup accounted for nine hits, while its five pitchers struck out seven, including right-handed starter Nate Snead, who finished with three strikeouts while giving up two hits and one run in 3.0 innings his 2025 debut.
Left-hander Andrew Behnke (1-0) earned the win after tossing one strike out in 1.0 innings of work.
The Pride (0-3) had four hits, one more than they combined for in their previous two games, but hardly enough to take advantage of an early lead.
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the first time all weekend, it was Hofstra that struck first.
Jake Harring led off with a hut off of Nate Snead, then Bryce Curry drove him across on a fly out RBI to right to put the Pride up early. It took just two at-bats for Tennessee to respond, though.
Dean Curley began the bottom half with a single to center that slipped underneath the glove of Trenton Snyder and allowed Curley to reach third on an error. A wild pitch from Branden Brown in the next at-bat scored Curley from third to draw even at 1-1 with no outs.
Tennessee added two more runs on Cannon Peebles infield single that scored Gavin Kilen and a hard-hit RBI single to left from Stone Lawless that plated Hunter Ensley.
It took Hofstra until the seventh hitter in the Vols' lineup in Chris Newstrom to get an out. It followed it up with another, but it came at the cost of another run after Reese Chapman's ground at first scored Andrew Fischer to stretch Tennessee's lead to 4-1.
Snead ran into trouble in the second, giving up lead-off double, walk and then a wild pitch that allowed Hofstra to put runners in scoring position with no outs. Snead tossed back-to-back strikeouts in response but gave up another walk to load the bases.
A ground out got the Vols out of the frame unscathed.
The Pride unraveled in the second with a plethora of fielding and throwing errors that helped Tennessee start to pile on for the third-straight game.
An underhanded throw from shortstop Michael Brown sailed over the head of Harring at second and Kilen slid in safely to second as Curley scored. Branden Brown tried to get the first out of the frame with a pick-off attempt at first, but that throw missed wide and Kilen scored to put the Vols up 6-1.
Chris Newstrom drew a one-out, bases loaded walk to score another, but it was Reese Chapman that blew it open, mashing a bases-clearing home run to left-center to get Tennessee into run-rule territory in the second at 11-1.
It was the Vols' second grand slam of the series.
Hofstra eventually got out of the inning, but not before Ensley's RBI single up the middle for another run to lead 12-1.
Tennessee changed its lineup around in the third, getting as many at-bats as it could before the weekend ended. Hofstra also started fielding the ball, putting the game on cruise control for the most part.
After three scoreless frames, Levi Clark flied out to center to plate a run from Blake Grimmer in the sixth, and right-handed pitcher Austin Breedlove finished off the seventh.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will host UNC Asheville in its first midweek tilt on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs are coming off of a season-opening series sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson this past weekend. First pitch is slated for 4:30 p.m. ET at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Vols play Sanford, which was picked second in the Southern Conference preseason poll, in a three-game home series next weekend.
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