Liam Doyle is ready for Southeastern Conference play.
Tennessee’s junior left-hander made his fourth Friday start of the season and had his most dominant showing yet, coming within an out of pitching six scoreless and hitless innings in a 12-0 drubbing of St. Bonaventure before a crowd of 5,468 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. He was followed on the mound by Tanner Franklin, Brandon Arvidson, Brayden May and Michael Sharman, who finished out the first no-hitter for the Volunteers since 2002.
“That’s my first one in college,” Doyle said in a news conference of the combined no-hitter. “I had a few in high school, but that was really cool to get that done. I knew I was cruising. I was just trying to get the next guy out.
“I felt really good tonight, and having our offense do what they do really brings the blood pressure down.”
Doyle retired 17 of the 19 batters he faced, doing so via 13 strikeouts, three groundouts and one flyout. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound transfer from Ole Miss improved to 3-0 and lowered his earned run average to 0.35 after throwing 104 pitches, and he now has 47 strikeouts in 20 innings.