KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee continued to roll with another dominant performance in all phases during Wednesday’s 12-1 victory over UNC Asheville at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Big Orange (9-0) blasted three home runs and finished with double-digit hits for the fifth time already this season. The Vols have hit multiple homers in all six of their home games and seven of their nine games overall this year.
Alerick Soularie got the scoring started with his first big fly of the season, a solo shot in the second inning. UT added two more runs in the third on RBI hits from Zach Daniels and Jake Rucker before busting the game open with five runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to make it 12-0.
Connor Pavolony and Evan Russell both smashed two-run homers in the sixth before Liam Spence and Pete Derkay combined to drive in three runs in the seventh to cap the scoring.
Freshman pitcher Mark McLaughlin was extremely impressive on the mound for the Vols, tossing five shutout innings in relief to earn his first career win. The Johns Creek, Georgia native gave up just one hit and struck out five in the outing.
MJ Lucas drove in the lone run for the Bulldogs (2-6) with an RBI groundout in the eighth inning to break up UT’s shutout bid.
Tennessee continues its 10-game homestand with a weekend series against George Washington starting on Friday at 4 p.m. All three games of the series will be streamed on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
Notable
February Fun
The Vols have literally been unbeatable in the month of February over the past two seasons. After going 9-0 last year, Tennessee is now 9-0 this season with two more games to go. In those 18 wins, UT has outscored its opponents 160-21.
Home Runs for Everyone!
The Big Orange blasted three more home runs on Wednesday night to bring their season total to 16 through nine games. It took UT 16 games to reach the 16-home run mark a year ago. Ten different players have gone yard for the Vols after Soularie and Russell hit their first homers of the year today. Tennessee entered Wednesday’s game ranked third in the nation in homers.
Box Score (PDF) | Season Stats (PDF) | Vitello Postgame | Russell Postgame | McLaughlin Postgame
-UT Athletics
