University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
23-10
Eastern Kentucky
13-19
#12/16 Vols Blast Five Homers in Run-Rule Win Over EKU
April 11, 2023 | Baseball
Logan Chambers and Reese Chapman both hit their first-career homers in the win while Blake Burke, Christian Moore and Griffin Merritt also went yard as the Volunteers posted their fourth run-rule victory of the year.
After giving up a solo shot to EKU's Will King in the top of the first, Burke's two-run bomb in the bottom of the inning gave UT a lead it would never relinquish. The no-doubter over the bullpen in right field was Burke's team-leading 12th of the season, one more than Merritt's 10 long balls.
None of Vols' nine pitchers threw more than one inning on the night as the staff scattered four hits and combined for 13 strikeouts without issuing a walk. Freshman right hander AJ Russell picked up his first-career win after setting the Colonels down in order in the second inning with a pair of strikeouts. Â Â Â
True freshman lefty Andrew Behnke made his collegiate debut and pitched a scoreless seventh inning with one punchout before Chapman ended the game in the bottom half of the seventh with a three-run bomb off the batter's eye in dead center field, the first home run of his college career.
Chapman – a true freshman from Parker, Colorado – was one of four Vols with multiple RBIs in the game. Moore (three), Burke (two) and Cal Stark (two), also drove in multiple runs for the Orange and White.
With the win, UT improved to 8-1 in midweek games this season while outscoring its opponents 89-13 in those nine contests.
Matthew Curlew drove in the Colonels' (13-19) only other run of the game with a solo homer in the top of the fifth inning. Starting pitcher Rian Yates fell to 0-1 on the year after giving up two runs on four hits in three innings pitched.
UP NEXT: Tennessee (23-10, 5-7 SEC) jumps back into SEC play with a road trip to No. 5 Arkansas this weekend. The Vols and Razorbacks are set to open their highly anticipated series on Friday night at 8 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. Â Â
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Russell, AJ (1-0)
L: YATES, Rian (0-1)
Batting:
2B: FRANKLIN, Ron 1
HR: KING, Will 1 ; CORLEW, Matthew 1
RBI: KING, Will 1 ; CORLEW, Matthew 1
SH: PERALTA, Santiago 1
Base Running:
RUNS: KING, Will 1 ; CORLEW, Matthew 1
Batting:
2B: Denton, Zane 1 ; Kendro, Jake 1 ; Ahuna, Maui 1
HR: Chapman, Reese 1 ; Moore, Christian 1 ; Burke, Blake 1 ; Merritt, Griffin 1 ; Chambers, Logan 1
RBI: Chapman, Reese 3 ; Moore, Christian 3 ; Burke, Blake 2 ; Merritt, Griffin 1 ; Kendro, Jake 1 ; Ahuna, Maui 1 ; Stark, Cal 2 ; Chambers, Logan 1
SF: Stark, Cal 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Dickey, Jared 1 ; Chapman, Reese 1 ; Moore, Christian 1 ; Dreiling, Dylan 1 ; Burke, Blake 1 ; Merritt, Griffin 1 ; Kendro, Jake 1 ; Ensley, Hunter 2 ; Ahuna, Maui 1 ; Taylor, Charlie 1 ; Chambers, Logan 2 ; Miller, Ryan 1
CS: Dickey, Jared 1
HBP: Payne, Ethan 1
