Tennessee defeated ETSU 7-1 on Tuesday afternoon. Although the final score suggested control, Tennessee left plenty of runs on the board.
Blaine Brown struggled on the mound in the first inning. After getting ahead in the count against ETSU leadoff hitter Nate Conner, Brown hit Conner with a pitch and walked the next two batters to load the bases.
After failing to throw a strike to the next hitter, Tennessee head coach Josh Elander went to the bullpen for Brady Frederick.
“Sometimes guys are just going to have a bad day out there,” Elander said after the game. “Stuff was good, was up to 95, threw some good breaking balls and all that, so we’ll get him right back out there as soon as we can.”
Frederick responded by retiring the next three batters in order, allowing one run on a sacrifice fly to center field by Axel Melendez.
“It was nice because last year I had to watch [Frederick] on the other side when he was — you know, we didn’t get hits off him until Kilen tagged him late,” Elander said.
Elander praised Frederick for setting the tone, along with the rest of the bullpen.
“It was good to see him attack the strike zone, and I think a lot of our guys did that after the fact, too,” Elander said.
Brown answered in the bottom of the first, driving the first pitch he saw into the right-center field gap for an RBI double to tie the game.
Elander commended Brown’s ability to quickly move on from his outing on the mound.
“It was a great swing. He hammered that ball to right center, kind of got us going out of the gates,” Elander said. “That’s what I told him when I took the ball. I said, ‘Hey, you got plenty of baseball left today, so make sure you hit that reset button.’”
Brown’s teammates echoed that sentiment.
“It really shows a true test of who he is, that he doesn’t let little things affect him,” Reese Chapman said.
Frederick shared a similar view.
“It speaks a lot to who he is,” Frederick said. “Obviously not the day he wanted on the mound. But the fact that he can go in the dugout, turn the page and hit a ball like that, it’s really impressive.”
Tennessee added three more runs in the first inning to take a 4-1 lead.
Despite putting 17 runners on base, Tennessee struggled at times to capitalize.
In the fourth inning, Chris Newstrom doubled and Manny Marin followed with an RBI single to extend the lead.
In the sixth, Abernathy singled before Henry Ford hit a two-run home run to left field.
Chapman also turned in a strong performance at the plate. After going 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts and two walks in the weekend tournament in Arlington, Texas, Chapman went 3-for-3 with two RBIs.
Since that tournament, Chapman said he has made adjustments.
“Just getting back to the middle of the field,” Chapman said. “I think this past weekend, I wasn’t seeing it very well. Just trying to simplify things, shorten up, just get back to the middle of the field.”
While Chapman found his rhythm offensively, the bullpen was equally effective.
After Brown’s early struggles, Tennessee’s bullpen recorded all 27 outs, allowing six hits and one run while striking out 15.
Frederick and Cam Appenzeller combined for five innings, giving up one hit and one walk while striking out seven.
Brandon Arvidson, Mark Hindy and Bo Rhudy closed out the game to secure the win.
Tennessee returns to action at 4 p.m. ET Wednesday against Oakland University. The Volunteers will then host Wright State this weekend at 6:30 p.m. ET Friday, 6 p.m. ET Saturday and 1 p.m. ET Sunday.
