Vols Snap Aggies Win Streak in Series Opener

Friday, April 20

Knoxville

6:30 P.M. ET

University of Tennessee

23-17, 6-10

#14 Texas A&M

28-10, 8-8

Texas A&M

Tennessee

Photo by: John Golliher/Tennessee Athletics

April 20, 2018 | Baseball

Box Score Highlights Postgame Media PDF Box Score Postgame Quotes

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee got off to a fast start and received contributions throughout the lineup to take down No. 14 Texas A&M in the series opener between the two teams on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The win snapped a seven-game win streak for the Aggies and improved the Volunteers record in SEC home games to 5-2.

Four different players drove in runs for UT while the true freshman pitching duo of Sean Hunley and Chase Wallace were able to contain the Aggies' high-powered offense.

Andre Lipcius homered and had two RBI while Evan Russell came up with a pair of important sacrifice flies to drive in runs after Texas A&M tied the game and pulled within one late.

Hunley earned his first-career start in conference play and put forth a quality performance with five strikeouts over five innings of work. Wallace took it from there, allowing just one run and two hits over the final four innings to pick up his first-career win.

Tennessee raced out to an early lead in the first inning, jumping on Texas A&M starter Mitchell Kilkenny for three runs. Jay Charleston led things off with a single and stole second before scoring on an RBI single by Pete Derkay. A couple of batters later, Lipcius hammered the first pitch he saw for a two-run homer off the videoboard in right center to put the Vols ahead 3-0.

The Aggies put together a two-out rally in the third to cut their deficit to one. Michael Helman hit a solo home run to left field for the first run of the inning before three straight singles brought in another to make it 3-2.

Another solo home run by TAMU tied the game at three in the top of the fifth. Immediately after Helman was picked off second base, Logan Foster went opposite field for his team-leading eighth homer of the season.

The Vols were able to regain their lead in the bottom of the sixth with Russell's first sacrifice fly of the night. Benito Santiago nearly added another run to the UT lead but was robbed of an RBI and extra bases on a great catch by Foster in left-center field to end the inning.

Brodie Leftridge was able to provide an insurance run for the Big Orange with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh. Leftridge's solo shot to left field was his first homer of the season and put the Vols ahead 5-3.

Texas A&M hit its third solo home run of the night to cut the Tennessee lead to one once again in the top of the eighth. Braden Shewmake fouled off six pitches before clanking one off the foul pole in left field for his fourth round tripper of the year.

The Big Orange responded in the bottom of the eighth with two runs of their own to build a three-run cushion heading into the ninth. UT loaded the bases with no outs before scoring on a balk and another sacrifice fly by Russell to make it 7-4.

Kilkenny was stuck with the loss for the Aggies, his first of the season, after giving up four runs on five hits in six innings of work. The junior entered the game with an 8-0 record and an SEC leading 1.50 ERA.

Notables
Vols Continue Solid Play at Home
Tennessee continued their solid play at home in conference play, improving to 5-2 in SEC games at Lindsey Nelson Stadium this season. The Vols are 17-9 overall at home this season and will be looking to secure their third series win at home this year with a win tomorrow or Sunday.

Wallace Closes the Door
After tossing five scoreless innings in last Friday's game at LSU, true freshman Chase Wallace carried that momentum into this Friday's contest with another solid outing in relief. The Sevierville, Tenn., native earned his first-career win after allowing just one run on two hits while striking out four in four innings of work out of the bullpen.

Hunley Solid in First SEC Start
Freshman right hander Sean Hunley was given the ball for the first time in SEC play and turned in a solid performance, lasting five innings while striking out five Texas A&M batters. Hunley gave up three runs on seven hits and received a no-decision after being relieved by Wallace with the game tied at three.

Next Up
The Vols will go for the series win tomorrow at 6 p.m. in game two of the weekend series. The game will be streamed live online via SEC Network+ (WatchESPN) and will also be broadcast on Sports Radio WNML (FM 99.1 / AM 990).