University of Tennessee
Florida International
Vols Run Past the Panthers, 9-2
February 14, 2015 | Baseball
MIAMI, Fla. -- The #25 Tennessee Volunteers came ready to play on Saturday night, putting up nine runs on seven hits against Florida International backed by solid pitching to claim a 9-2 win in Game Two of the series.
With the win, the Volunteers improve to 5-4 all-time against Florida International and 1-1 in the three-game weekend series.
"That was an efficient win for us," Head Coach Dave Serrano said. "We put the ball in play, we forced them to play catch in the infield and they threw some balls around. It wasn't like we scalded the ball but we were very efficient offensively. That's a good baseball team and they're going to win a lot of games this year. That's why tomorrow's rubber match is such a big game for us."
In just his third career start for the Volunteers, lefthander Drake Owenby delivered a stellar performance on the mound, holding FIU scoreless on three hits in 6.0 innings of work. Entering the fourth inning, Owenby and his Vols retired 10 straight FIU batters to begin the contest. Owenby established new career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts with seven against the Panthers.
"As always, it starts on the mound and Drake Owenby has worked extremely hard to get himself to this point and he pitched that way tonight," Serrano said. "He had a great fall for us when we came back in the winter and I'm very proud of him for getting from where he was as a freshman to where he is now."
Tennessee's offense was sparked early in the first with an RBI-double from left fielder Christin Stewart. Stewart, who also knocked an RBI-triple during Friday night's contest, now has two extra-base hits in his nine at-bats in the series. In the third inning, right fielder Derek Lance reached base for the second time of the evening. Back-to-back walks by FIU's starter Garrett Cave then made it bases loaded before Lance scored on a wild pitch to the backstop, giving the Vols a 2-0 lead.
In the fourth, third baseman Jeff Moberg led off the inning with a standup double to right field. Tennessee then put their small ball execution to work, laying down back-to-back bunts to move Moberg over to third and later score on a squeeze bunt from shortstop A.J. Simcox.
Tennessee's first big inning came in the fifth, as the Vols took advantage of multiple FIU errors and used aggressive baserunning to push across three runs in the frame. Stewart led off and reached base safely on a fielding error by the Panthers' first baseman Mitchell Robinson. Second baseman Nick Senzel then drove a liner to left field, making it UT runners on first and second with no outs. Center fielder Vincent Jackson then delivered a two-run double to score Stewart and Senzel and put the Vols ahead, 5-0. Two batters later, Jackson scored on a grounder to third and made it a Vols 6-0 lead.
In the sixth, Tennessee put up another crooked number in the frame, started by Moberg beating the throw from short for an infield base hit. Lance then reached first base via an FIU error on third baseman Josh Anderson, moving Moberg to third. Lance swiped second and moved to third on a fielder's choice, allowing Senzel to reach first base. First baseman Nathaniel Maggio then cranked an two-RBI single to right field, bringing Lance and Senzel home to push the Vols' leaad to 9-0.
The Vols' righty Hunter Martin went to work for UT in relief in the seventh, keeping FIU to one earned run over 3.0 innings to secure the win for Tennessee.
"[Hunter Martin] went three innings but he worked extremely hard," Serrano said. "He ended up throwing about 72 pitches, which is a little high for him, but this was the kind of day where we could use him. He'll be able to come back on Wednesday and make a midweek start."
Serrano also noted the difference in his team's approach on Saturday versus Opening Night, adding that even the most-talented of teams experiences season-opener jitters.
"I've done this many times and sometimes you don't get the real feel on Opening Night, no matter how much you've worked hard and what you feel your team is, there are nerves and there are jitters," Serrano said. "This is a team that wants to win for each other and they want to win for the right reasons. I think they just tried too hard last night and that didn't bode well for us. I think tonight we were a little calmer with everything we did and we played Vol Baseball. We did a better job of throwing strikes, we played catch extremely well and we definitely were efficient offensively."
Tennessee takes on FIU again on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. ET for the series finale of the Vols' opening weekend in Miami, Fla. Live audio and video streams are available at FIUSports.com, Fans are encouraged to tune in for live updates, blogs and videos at Baseball Central on UTSports.com.
