At the top of the third, the most exciting aspect of the Volunteers vs. ETSU Bucs match up was the high MPH wind that whipped through Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
By the bottom of the third, the game appeared to be decided.
The Vols were up 6-0 and fans settled in for a blowout. But the Bucs didn’t stop there.
Scoring five runs in the top of the fourth, the Vols’ lead diminished from six to one in a 15-minute span.
Head coach Dave Serrano didn’t feel the Vols played to full potential, but was satisfied with a win.
“We’ll take the ugly (games), too. Over the course of a 56-game schedule, not all of them are going to be pretty,” Serrano said. “I’d feel a lot worse if it was an ugly game and we came out on the short end.”
The Vols failed to answer in the bottom of the fourth, but got a second chance in the fifth. They finished 3-0 for the inning, making the lead 9-5 at the start of the sixth.
ETSU went scoreless through two innings, letting the Vols keep a four-run lead through the bottom of the sixth.
Sophomore Will Maddox said he saw both sides of the win.
“I think you can take positive and negative from it,” Maddox said. “I thought we did a good job at the plate today, we didn’t strike out as much as we had been.”
It was an evening filled with pitching changes. Matt Esparza started things out for the Vols, holding the Bucs run-less through the first three innings.
Maddox and sophomore Eric Martin both saw time on the mound before Serrano settled on junior Nick Williams through the sixth.
Maddox’s time on the mound, along with a 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run, was a great addition to the day. Serrano said Maddox’s willingness to put it all on the line was key to the Vols’ win.
“Hopefully that can become contagious in this program and with this team,” Serrano said. “We’re gonna do whatever it takes to get the win, and sacrificing our body is a mentality that I would like to see in more of our guys.”
Serrano put Trevor Charpie on the mound in the seventh. That proved disappointing as he gave up two, lessening the Vols’ lead to 9-7, with no response in the bottom of the seventh.
Dalton Saberhagen stepped up in the eighth and pitched a scoreless inning, followed by Trevor Bettencourt in the ninth.
Serrano said he thought the pitching really kept the Vols ahead.
“I thought Nick Williams getting a stop in the fourth inning was huge to keep that momentum,” he said. “Saberhagen’s inning in the eighth to shut them down kept the momentum on our side, and then of course Bettencourt staying with himself and making big pitches when he had to.”
With several great pitchers on the team, Serrano said he felt the freedom to put Williams in a little sooner.
“I went to Nick earlier because that’s a commitment that I and the coaching staff have made, to do whatever we can to win games right away,” he said. “We have some options at the end and that’s why I went to Nick early, to get that stop and it kept them at bay.”
The Vols head to North Carolina to face Notre Dame on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
