Vols Take Series Opener from Aggies

Friday, March 24

Knoxville, Tenn.

5:30 PM

Texas A&M

15-7, 1-3

Tennessee

17-6, 1-3

Texas A&M

Tennessee

Photo by: Ethan Mito/Texas A&M Athletics

Mar 24, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies scored three early runs, but No. 12 Tennessee answered with seven of their own in the first two innings on their way to a 10-4 win in the opener of a three-game series Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Aggies (15-7, 1-3 SEC) scored twice in the first and another run in the second, but were held without a hit after the third inning against preseason SEC pitcher of the year Chase Dollander and reliever Seth Halvorsen. Dollander logged 6.2 innings with eight strikeouts for his fourth win of the year.

The Vols (17-6, 1-3 SEC) finished with 10 hits of their own, five for extra bases, including multi-hit games from Maui Ahuna and Kavares Tears.

Aggie starter Nathan Dettmer worked his way through 5.0 innings but fell to 1-3 on the year with the loss. Reliever Ty Sexton pitched the final three innings, punching out a pair while allowing just one run.

TOP AGGIE PERFORMERS
Jace LaViolette – 1-for-2, 3B, R, BB
Jack Moss – 1-for-4, RBI
Ty Sexton – 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

UP NEXT
The Aggies will have a quick turnaround for the middle game of the series with first pitch of Saturday's game at Lindsey Nelson scheduled for 11:00 a.m. CT. The game can be viewed on ESPN2.

GAME SUMMARY
T1| TAMU 2, TENN 0
The first three Aggies of the game reached base with walks to Kasen Wells and Hunter Haas. Jack Moss got the first A&M run of the game home on an RBI single and one batter later Haas trotted in from third base on a balk by Volunteer starter Chase Dollander.

B1| TENN 5, TAMU 2
The Vols wasted no time getting the runs back against Nathan Dettmer in the bottom of the first as Maui Ahuna tripled to open the inning and then scored on a grounder by Christian Moore. But Dettmer hit and walked the next to Tennessee hitters and an RBI single by Jared Dickey knotted it up. But the damage didn't stop there with Kavares Tears surging Tennessee in front with a two-run double before making it 5-2 when he crossed home on an RBI double by Hunter Ensley.

T2| TENN 5, TAMU 3
Jace LaViolette's first triple of the year put the Aggies in business quickly in the top of the third when he raced three quarters of the way home on a ball to the right-field wall. He came in to score on a grounder by Hank Bard.

B2| TENN 7, TAMU 3
Ahuna led off his second straight inning with an extra-base hit, doubling and then coming home on an RBI single by Moore. Two batters later Zack Denton upped the lead to 7-3 for the Vols with an RBI single to left field.

B5| TENN 9, TAMU 3
A pair of early base runners came back to haunt Dettmer in the home half of the fifth after Denton and Dickey reached on a walk and bunt single. A wild pitch advanced both into scoring position and a second wild pitch brought Denton home. One batter later Tears picked up his third RBI of the night with a sacrifice fly to center field.

B7| TENN 10, TAMU 3
Blake Burke added a run to the Tennessee line when he blasted the first pitch of the inning out to right field for a solo homer, his ninth longball of the year.

T8| TENN 10, TAMU 4
The Aggies got one back in the eighth, but could not take advantage of a Volunteer error for a bigger inning. Bard opened the frame by reaching on a walk before an error by Burke put runners on the corners with two outs; however, Tennessee reliever Seth Halvorsen coaxed a double-play grounder off the bat of Hunter Haas that scored a run, but put out any other threat by the Ags.