Tennessee baseball beat Western Kentucky in a 14-inning exhibition on Friday night in Nashville. GoVols247 was on hand to keep track of everything that took place in the Vols' exhibition.
Ben McKee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee baseball defeated Western Kentucky, 16-6, in a 14-inning exhibition at First Horizon Park on Friday night. The Vols led 8-4 after nine innings before taking a brief break and returning to play five more innings.
Tennessee will play its second exhibition of theweekend on Sunday afternoon when it travels further west to Jackson, Tenn. to face Troy. The final exhibition of the fall for the Vols is scheduled to begin at The Ballpark in Jackson at 1 p.m. ET.
UT is looking to defend its title in 2025 after winning its first national championship in program history last season. Tennessee became the first No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament to win the national championship this past June since Miami did so in 1999. It also became the first SEC team to reach the 60-win mark in a single season and just the fourth conference team to win the SEC regular season title, SEC Tournament title and the NCAA Men's College World Series in the same year.
GoVols247's Tennessee baseball beat writer Ben McKeewas on handat First Horizon Park to keep track of everything that took placeTennessee's first of two exhibitions this weekend.Here's how the 14-inning scrimmage between the Vols and Hilltoppers played out.
Greg Vitello threw out tonight’s first pitch. pic.twitter.com/uACwte8yPh
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) October 25, 2024
Top of the 1st — LHP Liam Doyle pitching
- Doyle strikes out Dylan O'Connell for the first out.
- Doyle picks up a strikeout of Carlos Vasquez for back-to-back's.
- Catcher Anthony Westbrook flew out to left field to complete a 1-2-3 inning for Doyle.
Bottom of the 1st —RHP Treyson Peters
- Jay Abernathy flies out just short of the warning track in right field.
- Hunter Ensley grounds out to second.
- Ole Miss transfer 3B Andrew Fischer hit a long solo home run to right field that nearly left the stadium. — Vols, 1-0
- Dean Curley joined Fischer to hit back-to-back solo home runs. Curley's solo shot was hit hard into the left field seats. — Vols, 2-0
- Cannon Peebles reached on an error by the Western Kentucky third baseman with two outs.
- Gavin Kilen was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second for the Vols with two outs.
- Vols utility man Alex Perry put a charge into one, but ultimately flew out to the wall in deep left-center to end the inning.
Top of the 2nd — Doyle pitching
- Western Kentucky centerfielder Ryan Wideman led off the inning with a hard-hit single up the middle.
- Doyle bounces back with a fly ball to second base in shallow centerfield for the first out.
- Wideman steals second base off of Doyle and Cannon Peebles.
- Doyle bounces back with a strikeout of WKU first baseman Henry Brown.
- Doyle strands Wideman on second with a strikeout of shortstop Drew Barragan.
Bottom of the 2nd — Peters pitching
- Vols right fielder Reese Chapman strikes out for the first out.
- Centerfielder Colby Backus strikes out for the second out.
- Jay Abernathy hits a double down the left field.
- Abernathy advances to third on a pitch in the dirt.
- Hunter Ensley drives in Abernathy on a double into the right-center gap, extending the lead to 3-0. — Vols, 3-0
- Andrew Fischer walks to put runners on first and second with two outs.
- Cannon Peebles pops up to first base in foul territory to strand the bases loaded and end the inning.
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) October 25, 2024Good evening from the Music City.
Will have coverage of Tennessee’s exhibition against Western Kentucky throughout the night at @GoVols247.
First pitch coming up in just under an hour. Go Yankees. pic.twitter.com/WOzL8wIPj0
Top of the 3rd — RHP Marcus Phillips pitching
- Phillips strikes out third baseman Caleb Niehaus to begin his outing.
- Western Kentucky second baseman Austin Hallersneaksa double past Fischer down the left field line.
- WKU lead-off hitter Dylan O'Connell reaches on a weakly hit infield single to put runners on first and third with one out.
- O'Connell steals second to put runners on second and third.
- Phillips walks left fielder Carlos Vasquez to load the bases with one out.
- Phillips walks Anthony Westbrook to bring in the runner from third. — Vols, 3-1.
- Ryan Wideman flies out to center, which proves to score the runner from third when Alex Perry drops what should have been an inning-ending double play at first base. The runnergot well off the bag on the fly ball and should have been doubled up on a Hunter Ensley throw from second. — Vols, 3-2.
- Phillips walks Ethan Lizama to load the bases with two outs.
LHP ANDREW BEHNKE TAKES OVER ON THE MOUND
- Henry Brown grounds out to shortstop to end the inning after Vols junior LHP Andrew Behnke inherited the bases loaded.
Bottom of the 3rd — LHP Lucas Litteral pitching
- Gavin Kilen leads off the bottom of the third with an infield single.
- Alex Perry grounds into a 4-6-3 double play.
- Reese Chapmanflies out to left field to end the inning.
Top of the 4th — Behnke pitching
- Drew Barragan leads off the inning with a single.
- Caleb Niehaus is hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second.
- Austin Haller lays down a bunt to move the runners up to second and third.
- Dylan O'Connell lines out to second for the second out.
- Behnke gets out of the inning with a fly ball to left, stranding runners on second and third.
Bottom of the 4th —Litteral pitching
- Colby Backus leads off the inning with a single up the middle
- Jay Abernathy beat out a double play to reach on a fielder's choice.
- Hunter Ensley singles to left to put runners on first and second with one out.
- Andrew Fischer strikes out looking for the second out.
- Dean Curley walks to load the bases with two outs.
- Cannon Peebles walks in a run. — Vols, 4-2
- Gavin Kilen grounds out to first to end the inning and strand the bases loaded.
Top of the 5th — LHP Michael Sharman pitching
- Sharmanstrikes out catcher Anthony Westbrook.
- WKU catcher Ryan Wideman hits a solo home run with one out into the left field sets. — Vols, 4-3
- Sharman bounces back from the homer with a strikeout of Ethan Lizama.
- Henry Brown pops up to Peebles in foul territory to end the inning.
Bottom of the 5th — Litteral pitching
- Alex Perry walks to lead off the inning.
- Reese Chapman grounds out to second for the first out. Perry advances to second.
- Colby Backus flies out to the warning track in left field. Perry tags up to third.
- Jay Abernathy smokes a two-out single up the middle to score Perry from third. — Vols, 5-3
- Hunter Ensley strikes out to end the inning.
Another year, another great crowd for @Vol_Baseball at a fall exhibition. pic.twitter.com/HVmgD05vUs
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) October 26, 2024
Top of the 6th — Sharman pitching
- Sharman strikes out Drew Barragan for the first out.
- Caleb Niehaus reaches on a single that Alex Perry needed made a great catch on down the right field line.
- Peebles throws out Niehaus trying to steal for the second out.
Bottom of the 6th — RHP Drew Whalen pitching
- Fischer flies out to right field for the first out.
- Curley strikes out looking.
- Peebles grounds out to second to end the inning.
Top of the 7th — RHP Thomas Crabtree
- O'Connell singles up the middle to lead off the inning.
- Vasquezwalks to put runners on first and second with no outs.
- Westbrooksingles to center to load the bases with no outs. Hunter Ensley was unable to complete a diving catch in the left-center gap.
- Widemanhits a hard ground ball to Curley that results in an RBI groundout. — Vols, 5-4
- Wideman steals second base.
- Lizama strikes out for the second out with runners on second and third.
- Crabtree strikes out Kyle Hayes to end the inning and strand a pair.
Bottom of the 7th — RHP Drew Whalen pitching
- Gavin Kilen is hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.
- Kilen takes second on a passed ball.
- Alex Perry walks to put runners on first and second with no outs.
- Reese Chapman reaches on an error by the WKU centerfielder.
- Colbys Backus strikes out with the bases loaded for the first out.
- Jay Abernathy hits a sac fly to left to score Brennon Seigler from third, who was pinch-running for Kilen. — Vols, 6-4
- Hunter Ensley singles to left, but Chapman is thrown out trying to go first to third. Alex Perry did not cross the plate in time, so the run did not count.
Top of the 8th — RHP Austin Hunley pitching (Manny Marin takes over at second)
- Hunley picks up a strikeout for the first out.
- Hunley picks up a second strikeout.
- Hunley gets a ground ball to shortstop to complete a 1-2-3 inning.
Bottom of the 8th — RHP Jack Bennett pitching
- Andrew Fischer leads off the inning with a bloop single into center.
- Dean Curley strikes out for the first out.
- Cannon Peebles hits an RBI double into the right field corner, scoring Fischer. — Vols, 7-4.
- Freshman infielder Manny Marin single to put runners on first and third.
- Alex Perry hits a sac fly to score Peebles from third. — Vols, 8-4.
- Levi Clark strikes out to end the inning.
Top of the 9th — Hunley pitching
- Hunley allows a lead-off single through the left side of the infield.
- Andrew Fischer makes a great play at third base for the first out, runner moves to second.
- Manny Marin makes a strong play at second for the second out, runner moves to third.
- Andrew Fischer makes another strong play at third to get the Vols out of the inning, stranding a run on third.
Bottom of the 9th — Jack Bennett pitching
- Blake Grimmer strikes out.
- Robinson Martin flies out to left field.
- Holden Brauner singles to right field.
- Dane Morrow strikes out.
Top of the 10th: RHP Nic Abraham pitching
- Abraham strikes out the first batter that he faces.
- Abraham gets a fly ball to center for the second out.
- Abraham picks up a fly ball to right to complete a 1-2-3 inning.
Bottom of the 10th: RHP Lucas Hartman pitching
- Brayden Sharp strikes out looking.
- Jay Abernathy walks with one out.
- Levi Clark strikes out looking for the second out.
- Abernathy steals second.
- Stone Lawless walks.
- Hunter High is hit by a pitch to load the bases.
- Chris Newstrom walks to score Abernathy from third. — Vols, 9-4.
- Manny Marin hits an infield single to score the run from third. — Vols, 10-4
- Blake Grimmer walks with the bases loaded. — Vols, 11-4
- Brooks Wright walks with the bases loaded. — Vols, 12-4
LHP CAL HIGGINSCOMES IN TO PITCH
- Brayden Sharp lines out to left to end the inning.
Top of the 11th: RHP Nic Abraham pitching
- Western Kentucky left fielder Carlos Vasquez leads off the inning with a solo homer.
- Abraham bounces back with a strikeout for the first out.
- Abraham gets a fly ball to center for the second out.
- Abraham gets a ground ball to shortstop to retire the three batters after the solo home run.
Bottom of the 11th: LHP Cal Higgins pitching
- Jaxon Walker grounds out to first.
- Levi Clark strikes out for the second out.
- Stone Lawless grounds out to end the inning.
Top of the 12th: RHP Tanner Franklin pitching
- Franklin allows a lead-off walk following a lengthy at-bat.
- Franklin bounces back with a strikeout while the runner steals second.
- A fly ball to left field results in the second out for Franklin.
- Franklin plunks Caleb Niehaus to put runners on first and second with two outs.
- Franklin picks up a strikeout to strand the runners and complete a scoreless inning.
Bottom of the 12th: Cal Higgins pitching
- Hunter High walks to lead off the inning.
- Chris Newstrom singles up the middle to put runners on first and second.
- Manny Marin walks to load the bases.
RHP COLE HEATH COMES IN TO PITCH
- Blake Grimmer grounds into a double play for the first two outs of the inning, scoring High from third. — Vols, 13-5
- Brooks Wright grounds out to shortstop to end the inning.
Top of the 13th: LHP Luke Payne pitching
- Payne allowed a lead-off single to center.
- Western Kentucky flew out to left for the first out of the inning.
- Payne picks up a strikeout for the second out.
- With a runner on second, Payne picked up his second strikeout of the inning to strand the runner and complete a scoreless inning.
Bottom of the 13th: RHP Evan Jones pitching
- Brayden Sharp strikes out.
- Jaxon Walker reaches first when the Western Kentucky second baseman drops the baseball.
- Levi Clark hits a bloop single to centerfield.
- Stone Lawless two-run bloop double down the right field line. — Vols, 15-5.
- Lawless advances tothirdon a balk.
- Hunter High hits an RBI groundout to first to score Lawless from third, — Vols, 16-5.
- Chris Newstrom flies out to left field to end the inning.
Top of the 14th: LHP Brayden May pitching
- Western Kentucky utility man Kyle Hvidsten hit a solo home run tolead off the top of the 14th.
- May responds to the solo home run with a strikeout.
- Maypicksup a second strikeout.
- Maygetsa groundout to the catcher to end the inning.
Bottom of the 14th: RHP Tanner Mueller pitching
- Dane Morrow singles to lead off the inning, but is thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
- Blake Grimmer walks with one out.
- Robinson Martin strikes out for the second out.
- Holden Brauner strikes out to end the scrimmage.
