Vols fly past Lipscomb heading into start of SEC play
With a trip to Missouri on deck this weekend, Tennessee had one final game to sharpen up before kicking off its SEC slate.
The Vols (15-3) used this opportunity to down Lipscomb (5-12) 10-0 in Knoxville on Tuesday night.
In the win, Tennessee looked locked in.
The Vols did a solid job of limiting mistakes in the field while putting up just one error. This came on a Zane Denton throw that came up short after a diving stop.
On offense, Maui Ahuna was picked off at first in the opening inning. Outside of this, the previously poor base running looked clean.
Tennessee began its successful night at the plate early. In the second inning, the Vols put up five runs on two home runs.
The first bomb came from Hunter Ensley as he left the yard for the first time in his career with a two-run shot. Then, Ahuna scored three while smacking his fourth home run of the year.
Following this, Tennessee tacked onto its lead in the fourth inning. Ahuna drove in his fourth run of the day while scoring Christian Scott from second. All of the runs scored to this point were managed with two outs.
However, for the remainder of the game, the Vols put up runs before having their backs against the wall. In the fifth inning, Dylan Dreiling hit a two-run home run to right field with one out.
In the following frame, Jared Dickey and Griffin Merritt both ripped RBI doubles to push the lead to 10-0.
This score would stick as the bench was cleared.
On the mound, Tennessee pitched seven players. This group combined for the team's fourth shutout of the year.
Getting the start was Zander Sechrist. He pitched the first two innings of the match where he ran into some trouble. He allowed three hits but struck out three and didn't allow a run.
In relief, Zach Joyce entered for 1.1 innings. He also saw some trouble, as well, with two allowed hits and two walks. Despite this, Joyce did enough to keep the Bisons at bay.
Following these five early base knocks, Tennessee slammed the door on Lipscomb. The Vols refused to allow a hit for the remainder of the contest and only three players reached base.
Aaron Combs, Jacob Bimib, Jake Fitzgibbons, AJ Russell and Hollis Fanning combined for this stretch of work.
As a unit, the entire staff struck out 14 batters, as well.
Ultimately, Combs earned the win through 1.2 innings of work while striking out three batters.
Next, Tennessee will travel to face Missouri for a weekend series. The first game is on Friday with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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