Following Tennessee's series loss to Florida and prior to the team's trip to play Arkansas, the Vols hosted Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday.
With no mid-week match last week, Tennessee coach Tony Vitello used the opportunity to empty the bullpen and give a collection of pitchers a chance on the mound.
Ultimately, nine players toed the rubber in the Vols' 14-2 win over the Colonels in seven innings.
Zander Sechrist, AJ Russell, Jacob Bimbi, Aaron Combs, Kirby Connell, Zach Joyce, Seth Halvorsen, Jake Fitzgibbons and Andrew Behnke all pitched for at least one out in the victory. No pitcher threw for more than a single frame.
As a unit, they combined for just two runs, four hits and 13 strikeouts.
The only runs were given up by Sechrist and Joyce on solo home runs.
For Behnke, his appearance worked as his career debut. The freshman out of Nashville pitched for a full inning while striking out a batter and allowing just one hit.
"I thought he did great," said Tennessee coach Tony Vitello. "I liked that, he probably doesn't, but I like that a guy got a knock against him... It was good to see something go wrong and how he handled it. To me, he was the same guy the entire time he was out there. It had been coming for a while. He's been good for us since he showed up on campus. He incrementally gets better every time he gets an opportunity to throw."
Russell was credited with the win. It goes down as the first in the freshman's career.
While the committee of pitchers dominated on the mound, Tennessee's batters made life tough for Eastern Kentucky's hurlers, as well.
The Vols (23-10) put up 14 runs on 11 hits, including five home runs.
Taking the Colonels (13-19) yard were Blake Burke, Christian Moore, Griffin Merritt, Logan Chambers and Reese Chapman. These knocks accounted for 10 of the 14 runs.
Chapman's was the first of his career and worked as a walk-off to enact the run-rule, as well.
Also recording RBI were Jake Kendro, Maui Ahuna and Cal Stark.
The only batters to record multiple hits were Burke and Zane Denton. They both managed two knocks and drove in a combined three runs. Denton also drew a walk.
By the middle of the match, Tennessee began to empty its bench. Overall, 17 players stepped into the box for the Vols. 14 got on base and nine recorded a hit throughout the game.
"I think it's really important," said outfielder Jared Dickey. "We've been putting good swings on the ball and having quality at-bats. That's pretty much the only thing that we're hunting for. Having the opportunity tonight to get everybody in it was pretty good to see those guys put some swings on the ball and to know we have more depth heading into the weekend."
This combination of effective pitching and powerful bats led to the game lasting just seven innings. It is the fourth run-rule this season with the most recent coming over Florida on Saturday.
Next, Tennessee will travel to Fayetteville to face Arkansas. The Vols will look to claim its first SEC road series of the year and just second win in a true road environment.
The first game will take place on Friday at 8 p.m. ET airing on SEC Network. Chase Dollander will likely take the mound for Tennessee.
*****
– 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, @TMansfieldMedia, @JNichols_2121, @ByNoahTaylor, @TylerIvens, @RealTBannerman, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.
