Vols Toss No Hitter
photo by UT Sports
It was an historic night on the mound for top-ranked Tennessee during Friday's series-opening 12-0 victory over St. Bonaventure, as five Volunteers' pitchers combined to toss the ninth no-hitter in program history.
Liam Doyle was incredible once again in a starting role, striking out 13 batters over 5.2 innings and retiring 17 straight Bonnies after walking the first and last batter he faced.
The junior lefthander improved to 3-0 on the year with the win and now has 47 strikeouts in 20.1 innings of work this year.
The foursome of
Tanner Franklin (0.1 IP),
Brandon Arvidson (1.0 IP),
Brayden May (1.0 IP) and
Michael Sharman (1.0 IP) combined to finish off the no-no with 3.1 innings of shutout relief.
Four More Long Balls
While the pitching staff was dominating, Tennessee's offense also continued to roll, launching four more home runs to increase its NCAA-leading total to 42. The Vols hit two apiece in the second and sixth innings, combining for 10 of their 12 runs in those two frames.
Cannon Peebles,
Dalton Bargo,
Gavin Kilen and
Andrew Fischer all left the yard and finished with multiple RBIs on the night.
More Tennessee No-Hitter History
Prior to Friday's contest, the last no-hitter in UT baseball history was a solo effort from Jeffery Terrell on Feb. 15, 2002, in a 5-0 victory over Bowling Green.
The Vols' last combined no-hitter also featured five pitchers (Kurt Scott, Brad Love, Logan Brummitt, Marlyn Tisdale, Brandon Crowe) as the Big Orange defeated the College of Charleston, 14-1, on Feb. 21, 2000, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Streaks Extended
Reese Chapman extended his hit streak to 14 games with a single in the second inning.
Levi Clark also extended his hit streak to nine games with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.
Four Vols extended double-digit reached base streaks on Friday, as well. Kilen, Fischer and Chapman have all reached base in every game this season while
Hunter Ensley extended his streak to 13 consecutive games with a pair of hits.
Up Next
The Vols will look to tie the longest win streak to start a season in program history on Saturday in game two of this weekend's series against the Bonnies. Tennessee's 14-0 start this season stands alone as the second best in program history behind the 2019 team's 15-0 start.
First pitch for Saturday's contest is slated for 6 p.m. and can streamed on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.