Vols Drop Season Opener to Maryland, 4-0

Friday, February 16

Knoxville

6 P.M. ET

University of Tennessee

0-1

Maryland

1-0

Maryland

Tennessee

February 16, 2018 | Baseball

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KNOXVLLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee baseball team dropped its 2018 season opener to Maryland, 4-0, on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

A pair of solo home runs by Preseason All-American Nick Dunn powered the Terrapins offensive attack as they out-hit the Volunteers 11-6 on the night. Senior right-hander Taylor Bloom also had a strong outing for Maryland, going seven scoreless innings while racking up nine strikeouts and giving up just six hits.

Freshman third baseman Wyatt Stapp led UT at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles in his collegiate debut. Sophomore Zach Linginfelter fell to 0-1 on the year after giving up two runs on six hits in four innings of work.

Maryland opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth courtesy of Dunn's first homer and a two-out RBI single by Will Watson.

The Terps added to their lead with another Dunn solo home run to right field with one out in the top of the eighth.

The Vols' biggest threat of the game came in the bottom of the eighth with runners on the corners and two outs after Jay Charleston was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Andre Lipcius drew a walk later in the frame. Unfortunately for UT, Terps' reliever Kevin Biondic got Benito Santiago to strike out swinging to escape the jam and keep the Big Orange off the scoreboard.

John Murphy came in and threw a scoreless ninth inning to close the door for Maryland. Tennessee also got a solid performance out of the bullpen from freshman Chase Wallace, who didn't surrender a hit in two scoreless innings.

Notables
Pick 'Em Off
Tennessee pitchers picked off three Maryland baserunners on Friday night. Starter Zach Linginfelter had two in the second inning and freshman Chase Wallace had one in the top of the sixth. The Vols had just seven pickoffs all season in 2017.

Stapp, Wallace Shine in Debuts
Tennessee freshmen Wyatt Stapp and Chase Wallace had strong collegiate debuts on Friday night despite the loss. Stapp was the only UT player with multiple hits after going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles while Wallace threw two scoreless innings of relief without allowing a hit.

Next Up
The Vols and Terps meet again tomorrow for Game 2 of the series. First pitch has been pushed back to 7 p.m. due to more expected inclement weather in the afternoon. Projected starters are RHP Garrett Stallings for Tennessee and LHP Tyler Blohm for Maryland.

Quotables

Tennessee Head Coach Tony Vitello

On what he learned from his team tonight:
"I learned that you're not going to get anything done when you're timid. It doesn't matter if it's at the plate, on the field, or on the mound. In this case it's more about at the plate. We had guys who were flat out nervous. We talked about Maryland's pitcher obviously having a lot of success. He's a senior and he's got experience. He's out there to kind of mess with you a little bit. He's there to mess with your timing, mix up speeds, pitch down in the zone and see if you can chase, and we had a lot of that information. If you're timid, it doesn't really matter. The other thing I would say is that was a pitcher and a night where you're going to be able to measure whether your guys have a good approach or not at the plate. Our guys have had days where they have a good approach at the plate, but tonight they did not. That's our responsibility, and mainly mine. Josh (Elander) does a great job with those swings and our other coaches get in the cage and grind with those guys. I'm pretty much the organization and approach guy, and it wasn't good enough tonight."

On Zach Linginfelter's performance and what changed in the 4^th inning:
"It could be fatigue, but he's also facing good hitters. Maryland took good swings in other innings too. I think the bottom line is, as big as his stuff is, when he gets behind in the count, good hitters can hit him. Maryland's got hitters up and down the lineup. What we saw out of him that we didn't see last year was the ability to mix speeds, pitch himself out of jams, and be a good defender on the mound. He showed an arsenal that can give you an SEC Friday night win, or more importantly a Friday night win, or just a win for our team as we sit here 0-1. He can do a variety of things. We'll see if we can build up that pitch count so he can do it deeper in the game."

Tennessee Senior Catcher Benito Santiago

On all of the young players tonight:
"Today we had a couple guys who were new guys and they did very well. It definitely showed that they have experience. It's just about keeping the positivity and knowing that at any time they're going to be able to get in the game and produce for us."

On Zach Linginfelter's performance:
"He had his stuff going. He was definitely throwing strikes with his pitches, and he's going to be the guy. He just goes back, watches film, and comes back stronger."

Tennessee Freshman Infielder Wyatt Stapp

On his approach at the plate:
"What I've always done is just try to see the ball, hit the ball. That's just kind of my mentality, so I just go with that every game."

On how he battled being nervous:
"You just have to realize that they're (Maryland) human too. They're going to make mistakes. If they leave it over the middle, then hit it and if they make a good pitch then tip your cap. You still have two more to work with. You'll get a good one to hit so just hit it."