Following last weekend's three-game sweep of Albany, seventh-year Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello described his pitching staff as entrenched starter Drew Beam and a bunch of guys who "just need to be ready to go when their name is called."
AJ Causey was more than ready Friday in the series opener against Bowling Green.
The transfer from Jacksonville State made the most of his first start for the No. 8 Volunteers, working seven innings and amassing nine strikeouts while allowing just one hit and one run during an 11-1 whipping that was called after eight innings. An announced crowd of 4,446 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium watched Tennessee improve to 9-1.
Causey pitched for a third consecutive Friday, having spent the first two in a relief role for AJ Russell, who left last Friday's game due to soreness.
"I had basically been starting -- just later in the game," Causey said afterward in a news conference, "so it's basically the same preparation, bullpen days, workouts and all that stuff."
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior improved to 2-0 with a 1.23 earned run average. Causey worked more than four scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in Tennessee's opening 6-2 triumph over Texas Tech to pick up his first victory, and he worked the final three innings last Friday to collect the save.
Causey said that Vitello told him last Sunday to expect to take the mound first against the Falcons.
"He was the choice because our hitters ranked him as one of the toughest at-bats on our team, and a lot of them ranked him as the toughest," Vitello said. "He has started before, so we all knew he was fully capable of starting. There were a lot of reasons why, but the coolest thing is that he's a guy who the other players in the locker room were really fired up to play behind.
"Beam and Russell fit that category, and Zander (Sechrist) does as well, but in a short amount of time, he's gotten a lot of respect from our players."
The Vols already have three one-hitters this season and will face Bowling Green (2-5) again at 5 p.m Saturday.
Causey made 14 starts last year at Jacksonville State, posting a 5-2 record with a 5.07 ERA. He was asked Friday night why he chose to transfer.
"It really came down to development," he said. "I was in the portal to get development and become the best player I can be. Mechanically, I've become way more sound, and I've gotten better strength-wise and in conditioning.
"The mental aspect is probably the biggest jump I've made here."
Billy Amick homered to left field in the first inning and to right-center in the fifth to pace Tennessee's offense, which also got homers from Dean Curley in the second and from Blake Burke in the fifth. Amick, who transferred from Clemson after last season, has played in all 10 games for the Vols and is hitting .342 with six homers and 16 RBIs.
"It's been fun just getting to play with this team," Amick said. "We have a lot of fun together. We're just trying to do what's best for the team, and we're focusing on hitting the ball hard."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.