Tag: baseball

Vols smash UNC Asheville, 12-1

Vols smash UNC Asheville, 12-1.

KNOXVILLE — A perfect record remained intact for the University of Tennessee baseball team Wednesday as the Volunteers battled the rain to rout UNC Asheville, 12-1, at Lindsey Nelson stadium.

The 19th-ranked Vols (9-0) pounded 15 hits, including  three home runs and two doubles against the Bulldogs (2-6).

Alerick Soularie, UT’s preseason All-American, homered to open the scoring in the bottom of the second inning and appears to becoming out of a slump that saw him go 0-for-13 in his first three games of the 2020 campaign.

Evan Russell and Connor Pavolony also went deep for the Big Orange, which extended its advantage to 12-0 with two runs in the third. The Vols would blow things open with five in the sixth and four more in the seventh.

Liam Spence, hitting in the leadoff spot for the Vols, went 3-for-5 with an RBI, a run and a stolen base to lead Tennessee’s offensive attack.

Pavolony, Jake Rucker and Pete Derkay each had two hits.

Mark McLaughlin went five innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win on the mound. He surrendered a hit and a walk, while recording five strikeouts.

Vols defeat Northern Kentucky, 15-1

2020 Tennessee baseball.

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee (8-0) remains unbeaten on the 2020 season after defeating Northern Kentucky, 15-1, Tuesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Christian Delashmit made his first career start for the Vols against Northern Kentucky. Delashmit picked up the win after pitching 4.2 innings and striking out seven batters. He gave up three hits in the contest.

The Vols received a lot offensive production with seven different players recording a hit and 11 scored a run. Pete Derkay and Landon Gray had home runs for the Vols.

Tennessee returns to action Wednesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols will host UNC Asheville at 4:30 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.

Vols’ series history versus Northern Kentucky, UNC Asheville

2020 Tennessee baseball.

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee (7-0) is set to host two midweek games.

The Vols will play Northern Kentucky Tuesday (4:30 p.m. ET, WatchESPN) and UNC Asheville (4:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network+) on Wednesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Tennessee enters the midweek contests after winning three games in the inaugural Round Rock Classic. UT defeated No. 1 Texas Tech, Houston and No. 25 Stanford in Round Rock, Texas.

Below is Tennessee’s history against Northern Kentucky and UNC Asheville.

vs. Northern Kentucky
Overall: UT leads, 1-0
In Knoxville: UT leads, 1-0
In Highland Heights: N/A
Neutral Sites: N/A
Last Meeting: W, 18-0 (Feb. 19, 2019)

vs. UNC Asheville
Overall: UT leads, 28-7
In Knoxville: UT leads, 24-7
In Asheville: UT leads, 4-0
Neutral Sites: N/A
Last Meeting: W, 7-2 (March 13, 2019)

Vols start season with six consecutive wins

2020 Tennessee baseball.

ROUND ROCK — Tennessee’s baseball team has started the 2020 season by winning its first six games.

The Vols defeated Houston, 8-4, in its second contest of the 2020 Round Rock Classic in Round Rock, Texas. Tennessee beat No. 1 Texas Tech, 6-2, on Friday.

Tennessee will return to action Sunday at 12 p.m. ET against No. 25 Stanford.

In each of its first six games in 2020, the Vols have started every contest in a fast way in the scoring column. Tennessee has scored in either the first or second inning in all six games this year, and have scored multiple runs in the first inning in each of its past three games.

Diamond Vols’ offense clicking early

2020 Tennessee baseball.

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee’s baseball team has been offensive in its first four games of the 2020 season. The Volunteers have used the long ball in a season-opening sweep of Western Illinois and a midweek victory over Charlotte on Tuesday.

Through four games, the Diamond Vols have scored 53 runs and pounded out 46 hits, including 19 that have gone for extra bases.

Tennessee is leading the Southeastern Conference with eight home runs. It took the Big Orange (4-0 in 2020) 10 games to club 10 round-trippers last season when Tennessee went 40-21 and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005.

Zach Daniels, Jake Rucker and Austin Knight have each gone deep twice this year for the Vols. Connor Pavalony and Max Ferguson have also homered this season for Tennessee, which plays in the inaugural Round Rock Classic this weekend.

Tennessee opens the event against Texas Tech Friday at 8 p.m. The Red Raiders are also 4-0 and made it to the College World Series in 2019.

The Vols play Houston (1-2) on Saturday at 3 p.m. before closing out the weekend against Stanford (1-3) on Sunday at noon.

Houston lost two out of three to Youngstown State at home last weekend. The Cardinal dropped two of three against Cal State Fullerton. Stanford beat the Titans 2-1 on Sunday after losing lopsided games on Friday and Saturday.

The Cardinal fell to Santa Clara 3-2 on Tuesday.

 

Tim Tebow still chasing MLB dream, participating in Mets spring training

Tim Tebow turned down offers from the AAF and XFL to continue pursuing his dream of playing in MLB.

Tim Tebow’s football career might be over but he’s not giving up on his dream of becoming a Major League Baseball player.

The former Gators Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback played for the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in 2019 and had a .163 batting average with four home runs and 19 RBIs in 77 games before his season was prematurely ended by a hand injury.

The 32-year-old baseball prospect is now healthy again and he’s attending New York’s spring training in Florida. Tebow, who was selected by the Broncos in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft, has had opportunities to return to football but he has remained committed to baseball.

Two years ago, Steve Spurrier offered Tebow a roster spot with an Orlando-based team in the Alliance of American Football. Tebow turned down the ex-Gators coach and the AFF didn’t even last a full season before folding.

More recently, the XFL approached Tebow about playing quarterback again. He turned them down, too.

“[Baseball] is what I wanted to do and pursue it and be all-in,” Tebow told the Associated Press earlier this week. “When I’m 50, I can’t come back and do this. This is part of a season and a time, and I feel I’m in that season. I don’t know when I’ll feel like I’m out.”

Tebow helped Denver win a Wild Card playoff game against the Steelers following the 2011 season. After losing to the Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs that year, Broncos general manager John Elway signed Peyton Manning during free agency and traded Tebow to the Jets.

Tebow lasted just one year in New York before brief stints with the Eagles and Patriots. He hasn’t been on an NFL roster since 2015. In 2016, Tebow signed with the Mets. This season marks his fifth year pursuing baseball.

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Diamond Vols score 42 runs in final two games against Western Illinois

2020 Tennessee baseball.

KNOXVILLE — The Diamond Vols opened their 2019-20 season with a three-game sweep of Western Illinois.

Tennessee, which won the opener against the Leathernecks, 3-0, Friday afternoon, saw its bats come to life over the weekend.

The Volunteers (3-0) combined to score 42 runs in the final two games of the series. Tennessee won 19-0 on Saturday and 23-4 on Sunday.

In Sunday’s tilt, UT pounded out 19 hits in front of 1,470 fans. The Vols had five extra-base hits, including home runs from Max Ferguson and Austin Knight. Luc Lipcius, Jake Rucker and Zach Daniels recorded doubles for Tennessee.

Daniels, Ferguson and Jordan Beck each had two hits and catcher Connor Pavolony scored three runs for the Vols.

On Saturday, Daniels and Knight both homered for Tennessee while Pete Derkay, Drew Gilbert and Landon Gray each doubled, for the Big Orange, which finished with 13 hits.

On the mound, Chase Wallace started and recorded six strikeouts in 5.2 innings.

Elijah Plesants, Kody Davidson, Mark McLaughlin and Gilbert all threw scoreless relief for Tennessee.

The Diamond Vols host Charlotte at 4 p.m. Tuesday.