The top-ranked Tennessee Volunteers secured an impressive road series win in dominant fashion, taking down No. 10/12 Alabama by a score of 9-2 in Saturday afternoon's rubber game at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
After being held scoreless in the first inning, the Big Orange tallied runs in each of the next four innings to take a 5-0 lead before breaking things wide open with a four-spot in the seventh inning.
UT's bats came to play as they cranked out 15 hits on the day, including three home runs and seven extra-base hits.
Seven of the Vols' nine starters had at least one hit while all nine reached base at least once.
Dean Curley,
Reese Chapman and
Ariel Antigua all finished with three hits while
Hunter Ensley capped his impressive week with two more knocks and three RBIs after clearing the bases with a double in the top of the seventh.
Freshman Duo Delivers
The true freshman duo of
Tegan Kuhns and
Brayden Krenzel were dominant on the mound during Saturday's victory, combining for 8.2 innings of two-run ball against a dangerous Crimson Tide lineup that scored 13 runs over the first two games of the series.
Kuhns made his third start of the year and set down the first 11 batters he faced before issuing a two-out walk in the fourth inning. The Pennsylvania native allowed just one hit over 4.1 shutout frames while striking out five on the day.
Krenzel followed with 4.1 innings of his own, allowing two runs on three hits while posting a career-high six strikeouts to earn his first-career win.
Vols Continue Success in Rubber Games
A year after going 5-1 in rubber games during SEC play, the Vols won their first of this season with Saturday's convincing victory. Tennessee also improved to 6-0 in series finales this year after posting a 14-2 record in such games last season.
Up Next
UT will host Queens on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Lindsey Nelson Stadium before hitting the road again next weekend for a series at South Carolina.