KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 1/3 Tennessee closed out its season-opening homestand unbeaten with a hard-fought 7-5 victory over North Alabama on Tuesday evening at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Vols (8-0) scored all seven of their runs in the first three innings, including five in the bottom of the first, before weathering a late rally to hold off the Lions (3-4).
North Alabama entered the seventh trailing 7-2 but scored one run in each of the last three innings to cut the UT lead to two. The Lions had the tying run at the plate in the ninth before Ryan Combs struck out Petey Craska looking to end the game.
The big story of the day was the return of junior pitcher AJ Russell, who made his first appearance since last year’s SEC Championship game after undergoing offseason surgery. The Franklin, Tennessee, native got the starting nod and struck out all three batters he faced in his lone inning of work.
Another pair of talented arms also made their season debuts on Tuesday in sophomore lefty Dylan Loy and freshman righthander Tegan Kuhns.
Loy pitched a scoreless fourth inning, working around a leadoff double to keep UNA from cutting further into the lead after it scored a pair of runs in the third.
Kuhns followed with 1.1 shutout frames in which he did not allow a hit and had one strikeout. The highly touted freshman was credited with the win in his first collegiate appearance.
UT jumped out to a quick five-run lead thanks to a string of two-out hits in the first inning. Cannon Peebles got the scoring started with an RBI single before Reese Chapman plated two more runs with another single. After Stone Lawless drew a bases-loaded walk, Jay Abernathy brought home the final run of the frame with an RBI single to left field to put the Vols ahead 5-0.
Chapman recorded his second RBI single of the day in the second inning to up the lead to six and Gavin Kilen produced Tennessee’s final run of the game with a solo home run in the third, his third long ball of the year.
Up Next
The Vols leave Knoxville for the first time this season as they head to Houston for the Astros Foundation College Classic at Daikin Park this weekend.
UT will open the tournament on Friday at 4:05 p.m. ET against No. 16/NR Oklahoma State before tangling with Rice on Saturday and wrapping up the weekend versus No. 24/NR Arizona on Sunday afternoon.
