No. 13 Tennessee defeats UNC Asheville 10-3; UNCA season still early

Stone Lawless’s three-run homer in the bottom of the third gave Tennessee the lead and set the tone at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, where the No. 13 Volunteers beat UNC Asheville 10-3 on Feb. 17. Tennessee improved to 4-0 on the young season, while UNC Asheville slipped to 2-3 after an early surge.

The Bulldogs jumped out in the top of the second with two runs on a hit-and-run and a sacrifice bunt, taking a 2-0 lead. Tennessee answered in the bottom of the second when Chris Newstrom delivered a sacrifice fly and Jay Abernathy legged out an RBI triple to knot the game 2-2; Abernathy’s triple initially looked like a Little League home run before officials overturned the call on review.

Stone Lawless turned the game in Tennessee’s favor in the bottom of the third, crushing a three-run homer that produced a 5-2 lead. The Vols added to that cushion in the fourth when Henry Ford hit a solo shot to left, and they continued to tack on runs through the middle innings. Tennessee ultimately scored 10 runs, with the Bulldogs adding a late run in the ninth to finish 10-3.

Blaine Brown provided the game’s most talked-about two-way performance. Brown opened on the mound, struck out the side with fastballs up to 94-96 mph in his one inning, then stayed in the lineup as the designated hitter and drove in a run with an RBI double in the sixth. After the game, coach Josh Elander said, "He's just such a good athlete. Want him to keep what makes him good on the offensive side. I think it can help him on the defensive side, too, or the pitching side rather. It's real stuff. It's real. It's not just a guy that gets up there and throws. He's got a plan and he's trying to execute. He did really well tonight."

The bottom of Tennessee’s order produced, too: Jay Abernathy and Ariel Antigua combined for five hits (5-for-7), with Abernathy nearly completing the cycle after his second-inning triple and an RBI double in the seventh. Stone Lawless is identified as jersey No. 27 in team photo captions and led the Vols with three RBIs while scoring three times.

Tennessee used six pitchers in the win and worked several arms through the middle innings. Freshman Cam Appenzeller followed Brown with extended relief; one published pitching line lists Appenzeller as working four innings, allowing two hits and two earned runs with six strikeouts and two walks on 56 pitches, while another published line that claimed 34 strikeouts in five innings is almost certainly a misprint. Ethan Baiotto and Taylor Tracey each made collegiate debuts in Tennessee relief, and Tracey issued a leadoff walk in the ninth that led to an inherited-run RBI single by UNC Asheville designated hitter Owen Michelson.

The final out came after Michelson’s ninth-inning single when Tennessee first baseman Hunter High maintained contact with the bag and picked an errant throw to complete a 4-6-3 double play and end the game. Tennessee returns to action Friday at 4 p.m. ET against Kent State; UNC Asheville heads into its early-season stretch still seeking momentum.