It was clear from the jump that starting pitcher Evan Blanco’s stuff wasn’t hitting its spots.
Despite the rough start, the bats picked Blanco up, all while clinching a big series win over No. 4 Texas, 14-9. Tennessee mustered up 16 hits and scored in every inning en route to the Saturday win.
After a deep flyout to right field by Aiden Robbins, Blanco immediately began to falter. A walk to Carson Tinney was the first Longhorns (36-12, 15-10 SEC) baserunner, before Anthony Pack Jr. moved runners to the corners with a single.
With the Longhorns threatening early and only one out, Blanco balked a pitch, allowing the first run of the game to score. It was clear that the previous pitch had shaken the southpaw, as the very next pitch was sent to the left-field bleachers by Temo Becerra.
After two quick pitches, the score went from 0-all to a 3-0 Longhorns lead at the end of the first half inning.
Yet the Vols (34-17, 13-13 SEC) bats were heating up early as well against Longhorns starter, left-hander Luke Harrison. Garrett Wright in the leadoff spot muscled a ball to left-center, clearing the wall for his seventh home run of the season.
The swinging must’ve been contagious, because Trent Grindlinger, a few at-bats later, did the same with a hit to centerfield — two separate solo shots put the Vols right back in the game, trailing 3-2.
While Blanco settled in with a cleaner second inning of work, the Vols’ bats stayed working. With two outs and the bases emptied, Manny Marin added another solo home run, tying the game at 3-3.
Grindlinger continued to show why a freshman deserves that starting spot with two on and one out in the bottom of the third, as he sent his second hit of the day into left field. The ball rolled all the way to the wall while scoring a run and giving the Vols their first lead of the evening.
After the nightmare start for Blanco at the top of the first, he made quite the turnaround over the next few innings. Following up the nightmare start in the second, the lefty sat down all three Longhorns batters in order.
Despite having some late two-out traffic on the basepaths at the top of the third, he forced a groundout to prevent any runs. Yet the momentum didn’t stop there, as Blanco posted another quick three-batter inning at the top of the fourth.
Leading 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth, and with Blanco settled back in, the Vols were looking for some insurance. After Wright went swinging in the dirt for a pitch that should’ve been strike three, the catcher instead made an error towards first base, allowing him to reach second. With two outs and a runner on second, Blake Grimmer kept the home-run theme alive with a two-run bomb into the right-field parking lot, giving the Vols a 6-3 lead.
Becerra continued to haunt Blanco, his third hit of the evening coming in the top of the fifth, where he brought in two more runs for Texas. In Blanco’s toughest test since the first, he came away with only the two-run single from Becerra causing damage, keeping the Vols in front with a 6-5 lead.
Grindlinger kept his big day going in the bottom of the fifth with his third hit of the night, a single to right field. Levi Clark moved him over to second after a single of his own, putting two on with no outs for Reese Chapman.
Chapman laid down a nice bunt as Texas continued to struggle with throwing over to first. A throwing error from Becerra at third allowed two runs to cross home, giving the Vols a three-run lead.
Marin added another run in the form of a sac-fly a few at-bats later, giving the Vols more breathing room with a score of 9-5. Chapman, with a runner on first and two outs in the bottom of the sixth, clubbed the Vols’ fifth home run of the night, giving them even more breathing room against the Longhorns and leading by six runs at the end of the sixth.
Besides a rough first and fifth inning for Blanco, he posted zeros in his other five innings pitched. His final line on Saturday against Texas finished with seven innings, five earned runs, three walks, eight strikeouts and seven hits. Blaine Brown added more insurance in the bottom of the seventh with a double, the ball was sent just far enough to give Marin time to score from first base, giving the Vols a seven-run lead.
In relief for Blanco entered freshman Cameron Appenzeller, who instantly delivered two outs before allowing a solo home run over the batter’s eye to Casey Borba, cutting the Vols’ lead to six. Yet the home runs still didn’t stop rolling, a Stone Lawless two-run nuke to right field marked the sixth of the game for the Vols, now leading by eight.
Appenzeller went back out to work in the top of the ninth, and he allowed two more runs on two separate wild pitches before allowing another run in on a Becerra double. Finally, on Appenzeller’s seventh batter of the inning, he ended the game on a roller to first base, clinching the series win.
Tennessee goes for a possible sweep on Sunday against the Longhorns, with first pitch set for 12 p.m. ET.
