KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee continued its stellar weekend by putting on an offensive display in Saturday night’s 14-9 victory over No. 3/4 Texas to clinch the series in front of a raucous crowd at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Volunteers (34-17, 13-13 SEC) finished with 16 total hits and tied their season high with six home runs while tallying at least one run in every inning that they came to the plate.
Trent Grindlinger added another outstanding performance to his long list of them, racking up a career-best four hits while finishing a triple short of the cycle. The true freshman designated hitter scored two runs, had a pair of RBIs and blasted his seventh homer of the year in the bottom of the first inning to help UT pull back within a run after falling behind 3-0 in the top of the frame.
Senior left-hander Evan Blanco gave the Big Orange a gritty effort after a rocky start to the game and finished with eight strikeouts over seven innings while allowing five runs on seven hits to earn the win and improve to 6-3.
After giving up a three-spot to start the game, Blanco set down 10 of the next 12 batters he faced before giving up two more runs in the top of the fifth. Once again, the Virginia transfer rebounded nicely by retiring the final six Longhorns he saw before handing the ball off to Cam Appenzeller for the final two frames.
Garrett Wright jumpstarted Tennessee’s first-inning rally by hammering a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left center for a leadoff home run.
Manny Marin, Blake Grimmer, Reese Chapman and Stone Lawless were the other four Vols to leave the yard in Saturday’s win. Grimmer, Grindlinger, Chapman, Lawless and Marin all finished with multiple RBIs, as well.
The Longhorns (36-12, 15-10 SEC) were led by third baseman Temo Becerra, who finished 4-for-5 with five RBIs. Senior lefty starter Luke Harrison fell to 5-3 on the year after allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits in 3.2 innings.
UP NEXT: The Vols will go for the series sweep in Sunday’s series finale, which will be televised on ESPN2 at noon ET.
