Abernathy & Lawless Combine For Five RBI, #3 Vols Beat UNC Asheville In First Midweek

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 3/13 Tennessee kept the ball rolling with a 10-3 win over UNC Asheville on Tuesday evening at Lindsey Nelson Stadium to move to 4-0 and remain unbeaten. 

Blaine Brown picked up right where he left off after lighting it up this past weekend. The sophomore was the opener for tonight’s contest, striking out the side and adding an RBI double later on as a hitter.

Freshman left-hander Cam Appenzeller came on in relief in the second and gave up two early runs, but settled in, retiring 11 in a row to end his outing and striking out seven in his four innings of work to earn his first collegiate victory. 

The Vols erased the two-run deficit in the bottom of the second, plating two of their own thanks to a Chris Newstrom sacrifice fly and a Jay Abernathy triple.

Stone Lawless made the Bulldogs pay for two straight walks in the bottom of the third, parking a three-run home run into the second deck of the Porch to give the Vols their first lead of the night, 5-2.

Henry Ford kept the foot on the gas in the bottom half of the fourth, as he also left the yard to the Porch in left field to extend the UT lead to four.

After Brown’s RBI double in the sixth, the Tennessee offense pushed across three more runs in the seventh, thanks in large part to Asheville outfielders losing two fly balls in the lights that resulted in RBI doubles for Abernathy and Ford. 

UNC Asheville tacked on a run in the top of the ninth, but nothing more as the Volunteers cruised to a 10-3 win behind a strong collective effort from the bullpen and timely hits with runners in scoring position. 

UP NEXT: The Vols will be back in Lindsey Nelson this weekend as they host the Golden Flashes of Kent State for a three-game series starting on Friday at 4:30 p.m.