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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 9/10 Tennessee took down UNC Asheville to record its 20th win of the year with a 5-0 victory over the Bulldogs on Tuesday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Volunteers’ pitching staff was downright dominant in the win, holding UNCA to a single hit to record their seventh shutout of the season and third straight midweek blanking.
UT (20-6, 3-3 SEC) used nine different pitchers to get the job done. Junior lefty Zander Sechrist got his usual midweek start and pitched 1.2 shutout frames with a pair of strikeouts to get things rolling.
Bryce Jenkins and Jacob Bimbi followed, and each put up scoreless outings with the game still knotted at zero before the offense was able to strike for four runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Bimbi was credited with the win, the first of his Tennessee career after punching out three Bulldog hitters in 1.1 innings of work.
The next six pitchers that saw action combined to allow just one baserunner the rest of the way, a walk in the ninth inning.
Maui Ahuna led the way at the plate on what was a somewhat quiet day for the offense. The junior shortstop went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and a run scored from the leadoff spot. Blake Burke and Christian Scott both hit solo home runs, as well.
Corbin Lanowitz had the only hit of the day for UNC Asheville (15-9, 2-4 Big South) with a leadoff single in the second inning.
UP NEXT: With the win, Tennessee capped its five-game homestand with a perfect 5-0 record and carries that win streak into a top-10 series at top-ranked LSU this Thursday-Saturday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
First pitch for game one is slated for 8 p.m. ET on Thursday and will be televised on ESPNU. Fans can also listen live on the Vol Network (FM 99.1 / AM 990), UTSports.com and the UT Gameday App.
-UT Athletics
