Ben Joyce records first professional hold

Former Vol Ben Joyce records first professional hold.

Former Tennessee pitcher Ben Joyce made his seventh professional appearance Tuesday with the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

Joyce (1-0) pitched one inning, recording two strikeouts against three batters in Rocket City’s 5-4 win against Biloxi. The former Vol totaled 11 pitches with eight strikes.

Joyce recorded his first professional hold in the contest.

A hold is earned when a pitcher enters a contest with a lead of three runs or less and maintains the lead, while recording at least one out. A hold can also be earned when a pitcher enters a contest with the tying run on-deck, at the plate or on the bases, and records one out.

Joyce was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the third round (No. 89 overall) of the 2022 Major League Baseball draft.

The Trash Pandas compete in the Southern League and are a Double-A affiliate of the Angels.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Joyce appeared in 27 games and started one contest in 2022 for the Vols. Joyce (2-1) totaled 53 strikeouts in 32.1 innings pitched during the 2022 campaign.

Below are Joyce’s game-by-game strikeout totals with Rocket City.