Tennessee’s baseball season opener was a success Friday afternoon, especially for the former Ole Miss duo now playing for the Volunteers.
Junior pitcher Liam Doyle struck out 11 of the 15 batters he faced and junior first baseman Andrew Fischer homered as the second-ranked Vols, the reigning national champions, hammered Hofstra 15-0 in seven innings before a crowd of 6,212 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Doyle had five strikeouts through two innings and struck out the side in the second inning on 10 pitches.
“Opening day is always pretty fun, and that was my first time to start a college game on opening day,” Doyle said in a news conference. “I felt pretty smooth the whole time, and I kind of settled in toward the end. I had good adrenaline at the beginning, and the excitement of being out there always helps other stuff.
“It was a little chilly, and hopefully it gets warmer, but it was fun.”
It was 47 degrees at Doyle’s first pitch, a whopping 51 degrees cooler than for Zander Sechrist’s first pitch of last June’s third and deciding game of the College World Series finals in Omaha, Nebraska. The Vols took two of three games against Ole Miss last March in Knoxville, with Doyle leading the Rebels to their lone win.
“To be honest with you, it kind of looked like us last year trying to hit him,” Vols coach Tony Vitello said. “I do think he’s a different athlete and a different pitcher than he was last year. He’s always been talented, and he’s always been a competitor.
“It’s fun being on his side.”
Or, in Fischer’s case, on Doyle’s side for a second straight season.
“He’s such a good dude, and he was my roommate last year at Ole Miss, so watching him succeed is special for me,” Fischer said. “His body has changed. If you ask him to take his shirt off, he’s got a six-pack now, and that’s a little different from how he showed up here.
“He’s been really dominant since the fall, and I’m proud of him.”
Tanner Franklin pitched the sixth and seventh innings for the Vols, racking up four more strikeouts.
Dean Curley, Cannon Peebles, Gavin Kilen and Manny Marin had two hits apiece for Tennessee, while Curley, Hunter High and Fischer each homered.
The Vols struck for three runs in the first inning, which was highlighted by a Peebles RBI single off the left-field wall. Curley’s two-run homer to left in the second inning extended the lead to 5-0, and Fischer’s solo shot to right made it 6-0 in the third.
Fischer had 20 homers in 55 games with the Rebels last year.
“If you want to hit a bunch in a season, you’ve got to get the first one out of the way,” Fischer said.
High hit a three-run homer in the sixth that capped the scoring.
Aaron Combs, who got the final out in last year’s CWS win over Texas A&M, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. A logo commemorating the national title was also unveiled on the outfield wall.
“Last year has something to do with this year,” Vitello said. “We have experienced guys who have seen things that work and don’t work. It’s also a new story that the kids were excited to start writing today.
“It’s just chapter one.”
Saturday’s game has been moved up two hours to 2 p.m. due to the potential of rain in the late afternoon.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.