By BILLY DIXON
The Tennessee baseball team snapped one of the most incredulous streaks in baseball on Tuesday night with an 11-6 victory over South Carolina in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Despite being a program that has the most wins in the sport since 2000 and has made the College World Series six times in the span, the Vols had not won back-to-back opening games in this tournament since the 1993-94 seasons. I was a part of the team as a sophomore when that started. The win moves the Vols (38-19) into Wednesday’s second round against Arkansas (36-19), with an approximate 5:30 p.m. Eastern start time.
Although not a clean game, the Vols left little to doubt against the Gamecocks. Freshman hurler Cam Appenzeller put some recent woes behind him with five solid innings on the mound.
Due to the rotation in last week’s regular-season finale series at Oklahoma, the Vols were without the services of normal ace Tegan Kuhns. In just his second start of the season (and first against SEC competition), Appenzeller scattered six hits and three runs. He avoided further damage in the three-run third by coaxing two groundouts with runners on base. His only other spot of trouble came in the fifth when Carolina managed two hits and a walk. But Appenzeller (6-1) struck out Will Craddock to end the inning.
Fellow freshman Will Haas earned the save by going the final 2 1/3, striking out a season best six batters.
Tennessee’s offense provided all the support the pitchers needed, starting with a productive first inning. Garrett Wright and Blake Grimmer led off with singles and Ford got the Vols on the board with a sac fly. Levi Clark brought home another with a seeing-eye single.
Following the Gamecocks’ third inning rally, the Vols effectively put the game away with a decisive six-run answer in the bottom half of the frame. Trent Grindlinger, Manny Marin, Nate Eisfelder, and Wright contributed RBI hits.
Wright added a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to complete his 4-for-5 night. Henry Ford also homered.
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Razorbacks head coach Dave Van Horn said in a pre-tournament interview that he would not announce a starter until he knew who he was playing, but that it would not be All-SEC First Teamer Hunter Dietz, who has compiled an incredible 117 strikeouts in 78 innings and sports a 7-3 record. Dietz started last Thursday and Van Horn was not comfortable putting his star hurler on the mound on short rest for the second straight week.
If that holds, it will most likely leave the Vols facing a mid-week starter.
The same question and concern will hold true for the Vols. Kuhns will only go if he and coach Josh Elander feel comfortable with the amount of rest. What might be interesting is whether Landon Mack is ready to go for the Vols. The sophomore hurler has missed his last two starts with soreness and was not ready to go on Tuesday, but is dressed as part of the tournament active roster.
At the plate, Arkansas bats .276 – one point lower than the Vols. The Hogs have a trio of hitters over .300, led by Damian Ruiz at .319. Camden Kozeal is at .309 and Carter Rutenbar .305. They can and do hit the long ball. Kozeal leads the way with 17. Ryder Helfrick has blasted 15, TJ Pompey 14, and Zack Stewart 11.