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 Tuesday 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 kick off the homestand and end a three-game skid. In the last five meetings between the two teams in Knoxville, WCU has been held to just five total runs scored.

Zander Sechrist provided the Big Orange with another solid midweek start, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts before making way for the bullpen, which limited WCU to a single 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 of relief. Kirby Connell, AJ Russell, Jake Fitzgibbons, Hollis Fanning, Jacob Bimbi and Andrew Lindsey all followed with scoreless relief outings.

Christian Scott got the starting nod in center field and did a little bit of everything for Tennessee offensively with a home run, two walks, three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases. His solo blast in the bottom of the second inning opened the scoring and proved to be the only run the Vols would need 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 apiece.

The Vols scored four of their seven runs and had four of their 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 earn its first SEC victory of the year on Friday night when it begins a three-game weekend series against No. 12/21 Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.