Knoxville, Tenn. – No. 12 Tennessee limited Western Carolina to just four base hits including a trio of singles as the home-run-happy Volunteers tallied a pair of round-trippers and rode a four-run fourth to a 7-0 victory over the Catamounts in midweek nonconference action Tuesday night in front of 4,132 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Tennessee (16-6) bounced back from last weekend's SEC sweep at Missouri, only allowing two Catamount base runners to reach second base on Tuesday in the shutout victory – UT's sixth of the season.
Kyle Riesselmann doubled in the third inning and
Kenny Leiner drew a pinch-hit walk before a single by
Pascanel Ferreras moved him to second base in the eighth inning but no further.
The Catamounts left seven runners on base in the loss and struck out a combined 14 times against the eight different Volunteers' pitchers.
WCU's four total hits were scattered between four players with Riesselmann collecting the lone extra-base knock, adding an HBP as the only Catamount to reach base more than once.
Brandon Butterworth reached on an infield bunt single,
Jack Spyke singled up the middle in the fourth, and the Ferreras knock in the eighth.
Drew Needham drew a pinch-hit walk in the ninth inning for WCU.
Dante Visconti (2-2) took the loss despite striking out four over three innings in the starting role on Tuesday, surrendering one run on the second-inning solo home run. WCU's bullpen combined for six additional strikeouts – one apiece by six different relievers as the Catamounts used eight total arms in the road loss.
Tennessee's Aaron Combs (3-0), the second arm out of the UT bullpen, collected his third victory of the season by striking out two in an inning and a third of relief work. Left-handed starter Zander Sechrist struck out four over 3.2 innings while Jake Fitzgibbons and Andrew Lindsey both struck out the side in their inning of work, respectively.
The seven hits by the Volunteers were scattered between seven players. Christian Scott reached base three times including hitting a second-inning solo home run to provide the only run Tennessee would need, adding a pair of walks. Cal Stark hit a fourth-inning solo home run with Austen Jaslove and Christian Moore both tallying run-scoring doubles and Ryan Miller plating the game's final run on an RBI single in the sixth inning. All told, Tennessee has hit 46 home runs over the first 22 games to start this season.
Western Carolina (9-12) continues its season-long, seven-game road swing this weekend as it travels to the Gate City to open Southern Conference play against UNCG. The league-opening series opens Friday, March 24 at 6 p.m., and continues with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday before concluding Sunday at 1 p.m. Each game is slated to be broadcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with live stats available through a link at CatamountSports.com.
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