KNOXVILLE – Finishing the first game with a 9-8 walk-off win in the 10th inning, then tying a program record with seven home runs in the second game of the series, the No. 3 Tennessee baseball team beat James Madison in a pair of games Wednesday evening at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Game 2 Recap
Tennessee (12-1) tied a program record, hitting seven home runs in the second game of the two-game series as the Vols took down the Dukes, 10-2.
The Vols coupled the power surge with a masterful relief appearance from Will Mabrey who went five innings, striking out eight Dukes and only allowing two hits. Wyatt Evans finished the game for UT, entering in the ninth and striking out a pair of hitters.
Jared Dickey went 2-for-5 at the plate, mashing a pair of solo home runs that energized the Tennessee dugout. Evan Russell also made his mark at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two doubles.
On a record-tying night, seven Vols drove in runs. Of Tennessee’s seven home runs, six were solo shots.
Kicking off the game in style, Dickey picked up right where he left off from the first game. He hammered the first pitch he saw in the leadoff spot high over the bullpen in right field to get the Vols off to a fast start.
The Dukes were able to scratch a pair across in the top of the fourth, parlaying two walks into runs. Trey Lipscomb wouldn’t let James Madison have that lead for long as he took a middle-in fastball way out of the park to left center, clearing the newly added second-level porch, to level the contest at 2-2.
Mabrey came out of the bullpen in the bottom of the fourth, facing runners on second and third and no outs. The southpaw wiggled out of a jam with a groundout, a strikeout and heads-up back-pick at third base by Russell from behind the plate. Mabrey retired the first eight batters he faced, striking out five of them and punching out the side in the fifth.
UT broke the tie in the top of the seventh when Lipscomb singled through the right side to lead off the inning, then Luc Lipcius bunted him over on the Vols’ first sacrifice bunt of the season. Russell lined a ball to the wall in right field to score the Big Orange third basemen and the Dukes made a move to the bullpen.
Coach Tony Vitello countered with a move of his own, calling upon Christian Moore off the bench to pinch hit. The true freshman launched his fourth home run of the season high into the Tennessee sky, scoring Russell, to push the Volunteer advantage to 5-2 in the sixth.
Tennessee put on a display of power in the seventh. Dickey led the inning off with his second long ball of the game, sending another one into the porch in left field. Logan Steenstra went back-to-back, launching an opposite field shot high off the scoreboard for his first career home run. The big bats weren’t quite finished as Lipcius lifted an opposite-field home run to extend the UT lead to 8-2.
Cortland Lawson was the man to tie the program record for single-game home runs, crushing a two-run shot down the left field line that scored Christian Scott, who opened the inning with a bloop-double down the right field line, to cap an electric night of offense for the Vols.
Game 1 Recap
In a back-and-forth battle, Tennessee took down James Madison, 9-8 in 10 innings, in a game that was resumed Wednesday afternoon after starting Tuesday evening.
Jorel Ortega proved to be the hero in the first game, going 3-4 at the plate and driving in a pair of runs, including the walk-off winner in the 10th inning. His offense was complimented by Jared Dickey, who also notched three knocks and scored three runs, along with driving in a pair.
Almost uncharacteristically, the Vols relied on timely hitting instead of the long ball. Tennessee registered 11 hits with only four for extra-bases, all doubles. Instead UT worked counts and made the Dukes pay for their miscues, drawing 10 bases on balls that translated into four runs and reaching on an error which netted another run.
Tennessee crossed the plate first in the second after the first two batters reached on a walk. Christian Moore and Cortland Lawson both smacked singles into left, each scoring a run as the Big Orange struck first.
James Madison answered in the top of the fourth, leading off with back-to-back doubles. The Dukes added single before Tennessee went to the bullpen for Camden Sewell. The senior right-hander entered with runners on the corners and nobody out. He struck out the first hitter he faced before plunking JMU’s Carson Bell to load the bases. The savvy reliever kept his cool, getting catcher Jensen Lapoint to ground into a 4-6-3 double play, limiting the damage to one, keeping the 2-1 lead.
The Vols rode that momentum to a crooked number in the bottom half. It was a doubles parade for Tennessee as Seth Stephenson and Dickey laced back-to-back doubles into left, each plating two runs. Ortega got in on the action with a rocket line drive off the wall in left, plating Dickey. After four innings, the Vols led 7-1, but they would not score again until Wednesday afternoon when play resumed.
James Madison battled back with a pair of three-run innings in the sixth and seventh. Carson Bell blasted a pair of homers for the Dukes, muscling a three-run shot to right in the sixth and a two-run blast in the seventh to tie the game.
With things knotted up at seven in the bottom of the eighth, the game was postponed due to heavy rain and was picked up Wednesday afternoon. Tennessee wasted no time in regaining the lead, as Logan Steenstra was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded the plate the go-ahead run in the eighth. A resilient James Madison side would not lie down, homering on the first pitch of the ninth to knot it up, once again, at eight apiece.
Redmond Walsh tossed a clean top half of the 10th then the bats, as they had all game, came alive in the bottom half. Dickey led off the extra frame by slapping a single to the opposite field for his third hit of the day and Trey Lipscomb put him in scoring position with a single through the left side. Ortega came through in the clutch, roping a liner that one hopped the wall and scored Dickey to walk-off the Dukes.
The Vols will be back in action on Friday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium for a doubleheader as they host the Rhode Island at 2 p.m. Game 2 of the doubleheader will start approximately 45 minutes following the conclusion of Game 1. In anticipation of weather, there will be no game on Saturday and the sides will meet again Sunday afternoon at either 12:30 or 1 p.m. for the series finale. Tickets for all three games are still available at AllVols.com.
NOTABLE
MABREY THE MACHINE
Junior left hander Will Mabrey had a day to remember on the mound in Game 2, setting a new career highs in innings pitched (5 – previous 1.1 against Lipscomb on April 27, 2021) and strikeouts (8 – previous high 3 against Eastern Kentucky on April 6, 2021). He more than doubled his season total in the outing as he entered the day with six strikeouts in five innings this season.
WE GOING BACK-TO-BACK
In the second game of the doubleheader, Jared Dickey and Logan Steenstra hit back-to-back jacks to right field. That marks the third time this season the Vols have blasted back-to-back homers.
LINDSEY NELSON: LAUNCHING PAD
Tennessee blasted a season-high seven home runs in the second game against JMU. The Vols have mashed 32 home runs at home this season. Entering today, no team (other than Tennessee) had more than 27 home runs all season.
-UT Athletics
