The Tennessee baseball team captured a 5-4 revenge victory over ETSU — who beat them 4-3 back on April 11 — Tuesday night in Knoxville on the back of 11 hits and yet another converted save by sophomore Nick Blount.
“We were trying to put last week in the past and move forward from here,” said Blount, who is perfect on the season with 10 saves in 10 opportunities.
Blount entered the game in the eighth inning after sophomore Dalton Saberhagen surrendered three runs to ETSU who had cut the Vols’ lead to one.
“It’s good to have battles,” said Blount. “It’s a little different coming in in the eighth inning but it’s still the same thing. Pound the zone and try to get ground balls.”
Blount’s efforts, which helped secure the win for junior Drew Steckenrider, who came into the game in the sixth inning and struck out four batters over 1.2 frames, still failed to overshadow the 4-for-4 day at the plate produced by freshman Richard Carter.
“I was just seeing the ball well and tried looking for fastballs,” said Carter, who became the first UT player this season to record four hits in a game. “I think everyone is sticking to the approach we have and it’s paying off for a lot of guys.”
Carter, who is not a regular starter for the Vols, recorded two more RBIs to put his total at five over his past two starts.
Tennessee’s victory pushes them to 22-15 on the year, revenging the loss to ETSU one week ago while showcasing a pitching staff that recorded 13-straight outs during one point Tuesday.
“There’s a lot of great things that happened tonight,” said UT head coach Dave Serrano. “Richard had another great night. I thought he had a great weekend. We put him in because he brings energy to our lineup and he hasn’t disappointed us.”
Alongside Richard’s masterful day at the plate, fellow freshman Parker Wormsley added a pinch-hit double that scored the winning run and freshman Will Maddox added two hits and one RBI out of the leadoff spot, while showcasing a game-saving play at second base.
“To me the play of the game that gets overshadowed is Will Maddox diving to save the tying run from scoring in the bottom of the eighth,” said Serrano. “That was a huge play. We almost gave it away when he fed it to second base, but to dive and lay his body on the line to block it from going into center field is a huge play and secured the win for us.”
UT will look to continue their dog fighting ways when they enter a three-game series this weekend against Mississippi State.
“For what we want we can’t win enough,” said Serrano. “When I look at all the one-run games we’ve been in, we’re obviously doing something good when the game is on the line and I’m proud of my guys for that.”
