Tennessee carried its momentum from the weekend in its mid-week game, defeating UNC Asheville in eight innings via a run-rule, 11-1, on Tuesday night.
Blaine Brown started on the mound for the first time since his start against ETSU in early March. Brown faced three batters in that early-March start and allowed all three to reach base via a free pass.
His start on Tuesday was much more effective, retiring the side in order in the first on three ground balls. Brown was done on the mound after just one inning of work, but it was a good bounce-back start for the two-way player.
“We wanted to take a little bit of a step back, give him some extra time with [assistant coach Josh Reynolds] to work on some things,” Tennessee coach Josh Elander said. “I thought the difference with tonight was he really just slowed down… Just a little bit better presence, and I think the more he gets out there, he’ll continue to get better and better.”
Taylor Tracey was first out of the bullpen for Tennessee. He had a clean inning of work in the second inning, but ran into some trouble in the third after a two-out error and a walk put two on for Asheville. A couple of stolen bases put two runners in scoring position for Asheville, but they ran themselves out of the inning trying to steal home, halting the offensive momentum that Asheville seemed to be building with the top of their order up.
Both offenses were otherwise quiet the first time through the order, but after Nate Eisfelder drew a one-out walk in the nine-hole, Garrett Wright drove him in with an RBI double into the left-field corner. Reese Chapman immediately followed with an RBI single to right field to make it 2-0 Tennessee.
Will Haas was next out of the bullpen for Tennessee and scattered a couple of hits for a shutout inning of his own.
Going to the bullpen again at the top of the fifth, Elander called upon Ethan Baiotto. Baiotto was the mid-week starter for the last two weeks, but tried to eat some innings in the middle of the game.
Baiotto got into some trouble in his second inning of work after a one-out walk and a two-out infield single. Elander again went to the bullpen, calling upon Brady Frederick to get out of the jam. Frederick retired the next batter on one pitch to end the inning.
Tennessee got some more insurance in the bottom of the sixth. Henry Ford led off with a double off the glove of a diving Jake Pereira in center field. Blake Grimmer followed with a walk and Trent Grindlinger singled to load the bases with no outs.
Brown flew out to shallow left field, unable to drive in a run. Manny Marin picked him up, lining a ball into the left-field corner for a two-run double. Asheville limited the damage to two runs.
After the game, Wright credited Marin as one of the players on the team who has slowed the game down and executed in big spots on offense.
Marin agreed, saying, “I think it’s just been slowing [the game] down. Letting the ball travel, using the whole field.”
Frederick got into some trouble of his own in the seventh. A couple of walks with an error by Levi Clark at first, in between loaded the bases for Asheville with just one out. Pereira drove in Asheville’s first run of the game on an RBI groundout to shortstop. Frederick got Logan Lowe to ground out to Clark to end the inning and limit the damage, but Asheville finally got on the board.
Asheville’s starter finally came out of the game after surrendering two baserunners in the bottom of the seventh and throwing 115 pitches. Grimmer instantly singled into right field to drive in the first run of the inning, but the offense wasn’t done yet.
Grindlinger ripped a ground ball at the shortstop that he couldn’t handle. The shortstop threw it away, loading the bases and giving Tennessee an extra out. After Brown popped up to the second baseman, Marin made good on the extra out and launched a grand slam to left field to blow the game open.
After the game, Marin admitted that he naturally speeds the game up for himself, but thinking about keeping a loose grip on the bat has helped him in the box.
“I think working in the cage with [associate head coach] Chuck [Jeroloman] has been very helpful for me, and I’ve been able to slow down a little bit, loosen up my grip, and let the ball travel,” Marin said.
Brayden Krenzel came on in the eighth. He got into some one-out trouble, allowing a walk and a single to put two runners on. A wild pitch moved both runners to scoring position, but Krenzel showed poise. He got a big strikeout on Ben Green and got Tyler Parks to ground out to maintain the scoreless inning.
“We need him,” Elander said after the game. “That’s a guy we’re gonna need in the league and mid-weeks, and the more we can get him out there, the better.”
Elander highlighted Krenzel’s ability to work around those baserunners, continue to throw strikes and not let the inning get out of hand.
Tennessee added the final two runs in the bottom of the eighth to complete the run-rule. Helped out by three walks and a throwing error by the third baseman, Grindlinger made the most of his opportunity with two outs and drove in the winning run on an RBI single to left.
Elander spoke after the game about the adversity this team has gone through this season and how it can help them in the second half.
“We got some scars, and that’s letting the guys kind of play free,” Elander said. “Our guys have just done a good job of riding the wave… I think the more competition our guys get into, the more they’ll play free.”
Tennessee will look to carry its momentum into the weekend as it hosts Ole Miss. First pitch on Friday will be at 6:30 p.m. ET at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
