The Baseball 3-2-1
KNOXVILLE — No. 1 Tennessee hosted No. 19 Auburn over the weekend and won two of three to take the series. The Vols picked up win No. 40 in the process to tie the 2000 South Carolina team for the fewest games played to hit the 40-win mark by an SEC team since the league expanded in 1992.
Tennessee’s series win marked the 12th consecutive series it has won, dating back to last season. It’s their first series win over Auburn since 2011.
We look back at the series win and look ahead in the baseball 3-2-1.
THREE OBSERVATIONS
Ben Joyce unleashed
The biggest storyline coming out of Tennessee’s series win over Auburn is without a doubt Ben Joyce.
Joyce was unleashed for the first time this season in a high-leverage situation and, boy oh boy, did he deliver. In Sunday’s finale, the hard-throwing righty pitched four scoreless innings to lead the Vols to a series win.
Joyce’s most impressive work was when he entered in the sixth inning of a 3-3 game with runners on first and second, and no outs. It took him all of four pitches to get out of the jam, getting a double play on the second pitch and a ground ball for the final out on his fourth pitch.
The Knoxville native kept the game tied in three of his four innings of work. Then, after Jordan Beck hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to give the Vols a 5-3 lead, Joyce put together a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the ninth to close out the series.
Joyce set new career-bests in innings pitched (4.0) and walks allowed (0), while tying his highest strikeout total (6) in a game.
According to Tennessee's Yakker Tech data tracking system, Joyce threw 28 pitches that were clocked at 103 mph or faster. Of those 28 pitches, 15 were 104 mph or faster and three were 105 mph or faster.
Vols hold Sonny D in check
For the most part, Tennessee held Auburn star first baseman Sonny DiChiara in check over the course of the weekend.
DiChiara did hit a two-run home run during Saturday’s game that proved to be the difference in the Vols’ 8-6 loss, and although significant, that was the only damage he inflicted on the Vols.
Tennessee held the nation’s leader in batting average and slugging percentage to just 2-for-8 on the weekend while striking him out five times. DiChiara did walk five times, but his two-run home run on Saturday was the only extra base hit he could manage.
DiChiara only scored twice the entire series.
A few uncharacteristic outings
A handful of Tennessee’s pitchers turned in uncharacteristic outings throughout the weekend.
Redmond Walsh, Will Mabrey, Camden Sewell and Drew Beam each allowed at least three runs over the three games, while Blade Tidwell couldn’t make it through three innings in his start on Saturday.
Sewell’s three earned runs were spread out over 4.1 innings as he tried to calm the storm of Tidwell’s short outing, while Beam’s three runs given up were over 5.0 innings of work.
Walsh blew a save opportunity Saturday night. The super-senior pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, but then with a 5-4 lead entering the ninth, allowed four runs, including a three-run homer, as Auburn stormed back to take game two.
TWO QUESTIONS
Should Ben Joyce be the closer?
Walsh’s struggles on Saturday night followed by Joyce’s breakout on Sunday has led many to ask if Joyce should be the closer from here on out.
The answer isn’t yes or no. The answer is that it doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t matter because Tony Vitello and Frank Anderson don’t necessarily believe in labeling one pitcher the closer. Their philosophy is pretty simple. They’re going to trot out the arms they trust most when they believe the game is on the line, whether that be the seventh, eighth or ninth inning.
The important thing about Joyce’s performance is that the coaching staff won’t be afraid to bring him in during a high-leverage situation in the future. Sunday’s finale against Auburn was the first time he had been in one this season and he exceeded all expectations.
As for Walsh, he’s going to be perfectly fine. It’s baseball, the most humbling sport there is. He’ll bounce back as he always has.
The way I see it, Tennessee has two ‘closers’ moving forward. Two guys a lot of teams would love to trot out with the game on the line.
What does the rotation look like this week?
I don’t thing anybody really knows including Vitello and Anderson.
This will be the first week in which they have an actual decision to make in regards to the rotation and who will be told they’re not starting.
Chase Dollander is expected to make an appearance in Tuesday’s midweek game against Alabama A&M, and if all goes according to plan, the sophomore right-hander should be available in some capacity this weekend against Kentucky.
Maybe the staff takes it easy and just brings Dollander out of the bullpen in his return to SEC play against Kentucky. That would put off the decision for another week, but still, we’re near the point to where some form of decision is going to have to be made.
There’s still no clear answer as we sit here today. Dollander, Chase Burns, Blade Tidwell and Drew Beam all deserve to start.
ONE PREDICTION
Vols sweep Kentucky
Tennessee’s tricky three-weekend stretch of No. 24 Alabama, a trip to Florida and No. 19 Auburn has come and gone. The Vols passed with flying colors, going 7-2 against three ball clubs with quite a bit of talent.
The Vols now travel to Lexington to face a Kentucky team that is only four games over .500 on the season, and seven games under .500 during conference play. The Cats have lost five consecutive SEC series and its only series win over an SEC team this season was against Georgia during the last weekend of March.
From Tennessee’s perspective, it would be a disappointing weekend if it didn’t win all three. Sure, the objective is to win the series and it’s hard to sweep any SEC team, but the Vols are significantly better than the Cats.
