Tennessee faced off against Nicholls State in a Saturday doubleheader due to forecasted inclement weather on Sunday. Tennessee beat Nicholls 5-1 in nine innings in the first game and 12-2 in seven innings in the second game.
Landon Mack was strong in his season debut in Game 1 of the Saturday doubleheader. In six innings, Mack allowed one run on four hits while striking out nine and only walking one.
Mack said his gameplan was simple.
“Curveball down, fastball up. It was kind of a mixture of complementing both of them,” Mack said.
Mack allowed two baserunners in the first but worked out of trouble with a couple of strikeouts sandwiching a pickoff.
The rest of the game, Mack was extremely efficient. In four of the last five innings he pitched, Mack faced the minimum number of batters, retiring the side in each of those innings.
In the fourth inning, however, Mack got into some trouble. After striking out the first batter, Caston Thompson deposited a ball into the left field bleachers to tie the game at one. After the next batter grounded out, Mack allowed back-to-back singles to get himself into another jam. Mack finally got out of it with a strikeout.
While Mack kept Tennessee in the game, Tennessee’s offense was not as dominant in the first game of the doubleheader as it was in Friday night’s game.
Tennessee had 19 baserunners throughout the game but ran themselves out of innings earlier in the game by getting picked off three times including getting picked off from second twice in the fifth inning.
“[Nicholls] did a good job holding runners and changing looks. It can’t happen at the end of the day that’s on me,” head coach Josh Elander said after the games.
Brown got it going with a single in the bottom of the first before Reese Chapman and Stone Lawless both walked with two outs to load the bases for Jay Abernathy. Abernathy got hit by a pitch to drive in the first run of the game and give Tennessee the early lead.
Both offenses went quiet until the fourth inning. Thompson hit a home run to left field to tie the game but Tennessee responded immediately.
Chris Newstrom got the offense going with a one-out walk from the nine hole, and Henry Ford followed it up with a single to set Blaine Brown up for the big moment. Brown rocketed a ball over the right-center field fence to put Tennessee back on top, 4-1.
Brown’s big day did not end there, however. Two innings later, Brown came up again, this time with the bases empty. Still, Brown hit a ball off the batter’s eye in center field to give Tennessee even more insurance.
Brown finished game one of the double header 3 for 4 with four RBIs and three balls hit over 100 miles per hour off the bat. He credited his work with associate head coach Chuck Jeroloman and Elander for his improved approach and results to start this season.
“We’re expecting special things from Blaine all year long,” Elander said. “He’s pretty special. I mean he can use the whole field, and it’s an elite combination of athleticism but also real whip and leverage.”
Mack also expressed his amazement with Brown.
“He’s a tough at bat for sure. Gotta throw the kitchen sink at him. Everything I got. He’s just an elite bat,” Mack said.
Tennessee will host UNC Asheville at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday.
