Vols Sweep Seton Hall, Remain Undefeated

Tennessee completed their second sweep in a row, and extended their winning streak to 7 with a sweep of the Seton Hall Pirates this weekend at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Dave Serrano’s hot start at Tennessee continued as the Vols beat the Pirates 9-2 on Friday, 3-2 on Saturday, and 10-2 on Sunday.

“I told the team I want them to feel proud of what we have accomplished so far, but don’t be satisfied,” Serrano said. “We still have things to work on. We are overcoming ourselves and showing some toughness as a team. The only thing that will disappoint me as a coach is if we get bored with success. We can’t have enough success. We realize we have to get better every day.”

The stars of the weekend were on the mound. The three starters, Steckenrider, Godley and Blount gave up a combined 4 runs across 15 innings. Not to be outdone, bullpen pitchers Robbie Kidd (Game 1: 4.1 Innings 2 hits, 1 ER), Carter Watson (Game 2: 2.2 Innings, 2 hits, 0 ER) Nick Williams (Game 2: 2.1 Innings, 1 Hit, 0 ER) and the tandem of Vanderplas, Stevens, and Saberhagen combined for 3 Innings without a hit in Game 3. On the weekend, Vol pitchers surrendered only 6 runs.

The offense on Friday was led by Chris Fritts and Wes Walker, each had two RBI’s. The name of the game in Friday’s contest was small ball, the Vols used fundamental baseball tactics, moving runners, bunts and sacrifice flies to put up runs.

Saturday saw the Vols enter into a pitching dual. The starter Godley struck out 7 and only allowed 1 run in six innings of work. The Vols struggled at the plate, geting a season-low 5 hits on the day. It was the type of game in which every baserunner mattered.

In the 11th inning, the score knotted at 2-2, Chris Pierce was able to get on with a walk, and three wild pitches later, Pierce scored the game-winning run.

Sunday’s contest was much less in doubt as the Vols, taking advantage of a struggling Seton Hall defense, lept out 4-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back.

Nick Blount got his second win on the season behind a 6 Inning, 2 hit, 2 run performance. The bullpen finished the Pirates without surrendering a hit and only allowing one base runner in those 3 innings. (Vol Pitchers retired 19 of the final 20).

No coach at Tennessee has ever had as great of a start as Serrano, who has won his first seven games, and this is the second best start in Tennessee baseball history, second only to the 8-0 start by the 2003 team.

The Vols next matchup is on February 28 against MTSU at Lindsey Nelson Stadium at 4 pm.