A monster performance and a monster inning catapulted Tennessee to its most productive day of the season.
The Volunteers swept a doubleheader from No. 19 Alabama on Friday inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium, cruising 10-0 in the afternoon opener behind starting pitcher Tegan Kuhns before erupting for a seven-run sixth inning in the nightcap to post an 11-4 triumph.
Tennessee improved to 29-15 overall and to 10-11 in Southeastern Conference with the series victory, while the Crimson Tide dropped to 29-16 and are also 10-11 within the league.
“I thought we played really complementary baseball today,” Tennessee first-year coach Josh Elander said in a press conference. “We had a lot of situational execution. It was tough what we did today, and our guys know that. To win two games in one day in this league — all the credit goes to the players.”
Kuhns was brilliant in his complete-game, eight-inning performance that came about by the run rule, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out nine batters. He improved to 3-3 while lowering his earned run average to 2.55.
“He’s going to pitch in the big leagues for a long time,” Elander said. “We won two games today because of Tegan Kuhns and what he gave us in that first game.”
Tennessee grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the opener on Trent Grindlinger’s home run to right-center field, and the Vols opened the third inning with Jay Abernathy getting hit by a pitch, Garrett Wright singling to right, and Henry Ford doubling to left to score Abernathy.
Reese Chapman’s groundout RBI made it 3-0 later in the third, and Grindlinger followed with a single to left for a 4-0 advantage. Ford, Grindlinger and Chapman each had two RBIs in the opener.
“I was just ready to kind of set the tone,” Kuhns said. “I think the guys needed it. They needed a better start out of the starter, and I just did that for them.
“This was a big one, and I knew we needed it.”
The Vols trailed Alabama 3-2 in the sixth inning of the second game but quickly tied it courtesy of two throwing errors by the Tide, the first allowing Stone Lawless to reach and the second enabling him to score. Blaine Brown’s two-run homer to left gave Tennessee its first lead at 5-3, and the Vols continued to pour it on with Ford’s RBI single to center and Grindlinger’s two-run double to center.
Grindlinger went 3-for-5 with three RBIs in the second game to complete a 5-for-7, five-RBI day. Brown went 3-for-3 with four RBIs in the second contest.
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The two teams agreed to a Friday doubleheader due to the forecast of rain Saturday. The Vols will next play Tuesday night against visiting West Georgia.
“This has been a grind for sure,” Brown said. “Like Coach E has been preaching, we’re taking one game at a time. We just want to win the next game and keep winning.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.