Tennessee clinched its first SEC series of the year, run-ruling Florida, 10-0, at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The No. 2 Vols (19-0, 2-0 SEC) elected to throw right-hander Marcus Phillips on Saturday afternoon, while the No. 7 Gators (16-4, 0-2) had Aidan King on the rubber.
Phillips’ first inning was up-and-down. He struck out the first two batters but allowed singles to the next two. However, the most memorable play came from Jay Abernathy. He gunned down a runner at home to get the third out and keep Florida off the board.
The Vols were stifled after a Gavin Kilen single, keeping the game scoreless through the first inning.
Phillips logged two more strikeouts in the top of the second frame, and Abernathy made another great play. He tracked a deep fly into the left-field padding, putting the squeeze on the ball to secure the putout.
“Everyone works so hard, and to see it in a big game is a great feeling as a teammate,” Dean Curley said. “Everyone wants to win, so everyone’s giving it their all. Hunter Ensley is a great role model for the outfield especially, so it’s good.”
Tennessee got on the board first, scoring a run in the bottom of the second inning. Levi Clark hit a drive down the first base line that rolled all the way to the fence. He raced to second base for the first extra-base hit of the day. Reese Chapman laid down a sacrifice bunt to bring Clark to third base before Manny Marin brought him home on a single. Marin managed to advance to third base, but a Tennessee strikeout ended his hopes of scoring in the second frame.
The third inning was quick, as Florida couldn’t respond to Tennessee’s run. Two groundouts and a flyout ended the inning, with Phillips giving up just a single in the top of the third.
The Vols couldn’t keep up the scoring, managing just one hit in the third. Hunter Ensley drove a ball into center field for a single to get on base. A deep fly by Andrew Fischer looked like it was going the distance but got caught by the wind and ended up in the fielder’s glove in deep right field.
Florida’s offensive struggles continued after a single. Catcher Stone Lawless caught a runner stealing for the second out, and Phillips struck the last batter out to end the frame.
King responded on the other mound, picking up two strikeouts in the bottom of the fourth. Marin was hit by a pitch but was picked off in the next at-bat to end the inning.
Phillips collected two more strikeouts for the Vols, bringing his total to seven in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Lawless made it to first base on a walk which was the first of the day for either team. Back-to-back groundouts put the Vols in a hole, and Kilen struck out to end the frame.
The sixth inning was quick for both teams. Florida picked up its first walk of the afternoon, but couldn’t make anything of it as the score remained 1-0 for the Vols.
King only needed 11 pitches to get through the bottom of the inning. A quick groundout, a popout and a strikeout did it for the Vols, going three up and three down.
Phillips remained in for the Vols heading into the seventh inning. He jammed the Gators into two groundouts to start the inning. He was unable to gather a short chopper and get it to first, which would’ve ended the inning. Lawless caught another runner at second, holding the Gators scoreless through seven innings.
Lawless doesn’t share many similarities with Cannon Peebles, making them good companions.
“They’re different, which is really fun,” head coach Tony Vitello said. “Different personalities, different skill sets. I think they complement each other.”
Once Tennessee’s bats got hot, the game quickly ended.
Florida made its first substitution on the mound in the bottom of the seventh. Jackson Barberi took to the mound and Tennessee made the Gators pay. Chapman and Marin hit singles with no outs. Both were able to advance, stealing a bag each. Abernathy walked, getting the bases loaded for the Vols with one out.
Curley brought all three home, blasting a double into left to extend the lead to 4-0 with one out. Kilen reached on a walk, prompting a pitching change for the Gators.
Right-hander Matthew Jenkins couldn’t stop the bleeding. He allowed a single to Ensley, bringing Curley home. Kilen and Ensley also advanced after a wild pitch by Jenkins. This brought Caden McDonald to the rubber for the Gators, their third pitcher of the inning.
Fischer proceeded to blast a ball to left-center field, bringing two more runs home for the Vols with one out to make the score 8-0. The game ended with a Reese Chapman home run to right field, run-ruling Florida and clinching the weekend series.
“I think I had a lot of things working for me today, but what was mainly working was the defense,” Phillips said after the game. “I had a lot of hard hit balls right at people but they made good plays. Jay and Stone made a lot of good plays. I think I had good pitches and arsenal, but I think my defense is what made the difference.”
Tennessee goes for the sweep Sunday at 1 p.m.
