Tennessee’s baseball team secured its fourth consecutive victory with an 11-2 win over Oakland at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Volunteers started strong, scoring in the first inning after Jay Abernathy and Henry Ford opened with singles. Abernathy crossed home plate following an error by Oakland’s first baseman on a Reese Chapman ground ball.
Blake Grimmer, making his season debut, doubled to left-center field in his first at-bat, driving in two runs and pushing Tennessee’s lead to 3-0. In the third inning, Blaine Brown hit a hard shot off the right field wall before Chapman singled to bring him home. Additional runs were scored on a Chris Newstrom ground out and a Trent Grindlinger single, putting Tennessee ahead 6-0 after three innings.
Brown added to the tally in the fourth with a two-run homer that cleared the right field parking lot. Oakland responded with solo home runs from Kyle Revere in the sixth and Tony Konopiots in the seventh but remained behind at 8-2.
Ariel Antigua capped Tennessee’s scoring with his first career home run—a three-run shot into left field—late in the game. The Volunteers’ pitching staff held Oakland scoreless through the final two innings, closing out their tenth win of the season.
Grimmer finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Garrett Wright also returned from injury for his season debut, recording two hits and reaching base four times.
Freshmen Jax Bishop and Will Haas each pitched an inning in their collegiate debuts. The Volunteer pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts; freshman Taylor Tracey led with seven strikeouts over three no-hit innings during his first start. Nic Abraham earned his second career win by pitching two scoreless innings of relief and striking out three batters.
The Volunteers continue their homestand Friday night against Wright State as part of a three-game series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
