Tennessee Takes Down #16 East Carolina, 5-2

Saturday, March 5

Greenville, NC

4:30 PM

University of Tennessee

7-2

East Carolina

7-3

Tennessee

East Carolina

March 05, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

March 5, 2016

Final Stats

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- In their Saturday matchup against Keith LeClair Classic host #16 East Carolina, the Tennessee Volunteers used an early offensive jump and a solid team pitching effort to take down the Pirates, 5-2, at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Volunteers struck first in the contest, putting up a three spot in the first inning thanks to RBI hits from Nick Senzel (3-for-4, 1 RBI) and Jordan Rodgers (1-for-3, 3 RBI). Tennessee also took advantage of two fielding errors by the Pirates, giving UT a 3-0 advantage before sophomore lefty Zach Warren took the mound.

Tennessee's bats came around again in the sixth when Senzel led off with a double down the third base line. After reaching third on a wild throw by Pirates catcher Travis Watkins, Senzel came home on Rodgers' sacrifice fly to center field, giving UT a 4-0 lead.

With gritty, hard-nosed defense and pitching, Tennessee worked together to hold East Carolina scoreless over the next six frames. On two occasions, the Pirates loaded the bases with one out against the Vols, but UT ended the opportunities via strikeout and groundout to preserve their lead.

The Pirates threatened in the seventh, scratching two runs across and putting the game-tying runs on base. With two outs, left fielder Vincent Jackson then made a diving grab on a short, fly ball into foul territory to end ECU's rally.

Senzel and Rodgers furthered UT's lead in the eighth, as Senzel reached on an infield hit and advanced to third via back-to-back stolen bases. With two outs, Rodgers punched an RBI-single up the middle to score Senzel and give the Vols a 5-2 advantage.

Warren dealt 6.2 innings for the Vols, marking his longest career start for the Big Orange, and struck out seven batters for the win. Senior Steven Kane entered in the seventh for Warren and tossed 1.1 innings before the Vols went to righty closer Jon Lipinski in the ninth. Lipinski and the Vols went on to retire the side and capture his third save of the season.

"First of all, that was a great college baseball game," Head Coach Dave Serrano said. "Great atmosphere and two really great left-handed pitchers going toe-to-toe. We scraped out three runs in the first inning and then it just became who was going to endure the most.

"I'm just very proud of the team. I think every win for us has been a team effort and if anyone can feel the energy coming out of our dugout, it's just a fun team to be around. We'll feel good about this one but we have another challenge ahead tomorrow."

Vol Baseball Quick Hits

With the win today, Tennessee moves to 3-1 all-time vs. East Carolina and a 1-1 mark in the 2016 Keith LeClair Classic.
Junior Nick Senzel now leads the Volunteers with six doubles on the year.
With 6.2 innings pitched vs. #16 ECU, Zach Warren recorded his most innings pitched as a starter for UT.
Jordan Rodgers furthered his team-leading RBI count to 19 on the year, collecting 3 RBI vs. the Pirates.
Chris Hall extended his current hit streak to nine games with a 1-for-4 effort vs. ECU. With an RBI-single in the eighth, Rodgers now has a hit in his last eight games.
Saturday's attendance at Clark-LeClair Stadium: 2,984
Up Next for the Vols: Righthander Hunter Martin (1-0) closes out the Vols' Keith LeCLair Classic appearance on Sunday vs. Southeastern Louisiana's (5-3) Domenick Carlini (1-0, 2.08), slated for 11 a.m. ET.

For more information on Tennessee Baseball, follow @Vol_Baseball on Twitter or visit UTSports.com/Baseball. You can also 'Like' the Vols at Facebook at www.facebook.com/volbaseball.