KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The bats stayed scorching and the ability arms have been on full show as No. 3 Tennessee opened its first residence weekend sequence of the yr with a dominant 12-2 victory over Dayton on a cool Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Volunteers (4-2) erased an early 2-0 deficit by scoring in every of the primary 4 innings to take a 9-2 lead, together with a five-spot within the backside of the third, and by no means seemed again.

UT completed the sport with 12 hits from eight totally different gamers and have been aided by 5 Dayton (0-4) errors. Leadoff man Jared Dickey set the tone with a 3-for-4 efficiency that included three runs scored, a homer and three RBIs.

Zane Denton and Griffin Merritt additionally had productive days on the dish with two hits apiece. Denton drove in a pair of runs whereas Merritt scored twice and hit his first residence run in a Tennessee uniform.

The pitching employees was additionally lights out, racking up 20 strikeouts whereas issuing only a single stroll and permitting solely 5 hits.

Apart from permitting a two-out homer within the prime of the primary, junior pitcher Chase Dollander was dominant in his second begin of the season, ending with 12 strikeouts in 5.2 innings of labor to choose up his first win of the yr. His 12 punchouts have been tied for his most as a Vol and one off a profession excessive.

Freshman proper hander AJ Russell picked proper up the place Dollander left off, hanging out the primary 5 batters he confronted. The Franklin, Tennessee, native didn’t hand over successful or a stroll in 2.1 shutout innings of reduction earlier than making approach for Aaron Combs, who struck out the facet in a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Freshman infielder Jake Kendro capped the evening with a pinch-hit solo residence run – the primary of his collegiate profession – within the backside of the eighth that was initially known as foul earlier than being overturned by replay.

Marcos Pujols was a vivid spot for the Flyers, going 2-for-2 with a run scored and a two-run homer within the first inning to open the scoring.

Recreation two of the weekend sequence between the Vols and Flyers is slated for Saturday at 2 p.m. Followers can watch the sport dwell on SEC Community+ and the ESPN app or pay attention dwell by way of UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics Gameday App.