Vols spring back into win column with victory vs. WCU

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Dominant pitching and timely hitting led No. 11/12 Tennessee to a 7-0 midweek win over Western Carolina on Saturday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Volunteers (16-6) recorded their sixth shutout of the season and held the Catamounts (9-12) to just four hits to start the homestand and end a three-game skid. In the last five meetings between the two teams in Knoxville, WCU has held just five total runs scored.

Zander Sechrist provided the Big Orange with a solid midweek start, throwing 3.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts before making way for the bullpen, which limited WCU to one hit and allowed just four batters to reach base over the final 5.1 innings to preserve the shutout. .

Aaron Combs was credited with the win to improve to 3-0 on the year after striking out a pair in 1.1 hitless innings. Kirby Connell, AJ Russell, Jake Fitzgibbons, Hollis Fanning, Jacob Bimbi and Andrew Lindsey all followed the goalless exit.

Christian Scott got the starting nod in center field and did his little bit for Tennessee offensively with a home run, two walks, three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases. A solo blast in the bottom of the second inning opened the scoring and proved to be all the Vols needed on the night.

Cal Stark also homered for UT, his second long ball of the season, while Austen Jaslove, Jake Kendro, Christian Moore and Ryan Miller also had one RBI.

The Vols scored four of seven runs and had four of seven hits with two outs.

Western Carolina starter Dante Visconti was stuck with the loss despite pitching well, allowing just one run on one hit in three innings while finishing with four strikeouts.

UP NEXT: Tennessee will look to get its first SEC victory of the year on Friday night when it starts a three-game weekend series against No. 12/21 Texas A&M at 18:30 on SEC Network + and the ESPN app.