HOOVER, Ala. – No. 14/21 Tennessee put on a hitting clinic during Wednesday’s 15-10 victory over No. 15/23 Alabama in the second round of the SEC Tournament at the Hoover Met.
The Volunteers finished with a season-high 20 hits, 16 of which were singles, as they kept constant pressure on the Crimson Tide throughout the afternoon.
Seven different players finished with multiple hits for UT, including three-hit days from Andrew Fischer, Levi Clark and Cannon Peebles.
Reese Chapman was one of four Vols with two hits and led the team with four RBIs after a two-run single in the sixth inning and a two-run homer in the eighth.
Tennessee (42-15) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with runs in the first and second innings before pulling ahead 5-1 with a three-spot in the bottom of the fourth.
Alabama (41-16) took advantage of a costly error and scored five unearned runs in the top of the fifth to take its only lead of the day at 6-5. That advantage was short lived, however, as the Big Orange knotted the game back up at six with an RBI single by Peebles in the bottom of the inning before exploding for five runs of their own in the sixth.
UT added four more runs in the eighth to blow the game wide open, including Chapman’s 12th long ball of the year.
Pitching Highlights
The Vols’ fast start was aided by some strong pitching from Marcus Phillips, who retired the first nine batters he faced to cruise through the opening three frames. The junior righthander finished with five strikeouts and allowed just one earned run in four innings of work.
AJ Russell earned his second victory in as many appearances with 3.2 solid innings of relief, allowing two earned runs on four hits while racking up five punchouts.
Hits, Lots of Hits
Tennessee’s 20 hits were tied for its second most ever in an SEC Tournament and the most by any team in the tournament since Georgia had 22 against South Carolina in 2006. The Vols also had 20 hits against Vanderbilt in the 1994 SEC Tournament. The program record is 23 against Mississippi State in 1983.
Up Next
The eighth-seeded Vols will take on top-seed Texas in Thursday’s quarterfinals. First pitch between the Vols and Longhorns is set for 4 p.m. (ET) on the SEC Network.
