KNOXVILLE, Tenn (TVC) – Sophomore star pitcher Tegan Kuhns made sure he let the Texas Longhorns know who was the better UT in game one of this three-game series.
The very first Longhorn Kuhns faced, he walked; but after that, he made sure to limit the number of baserunners he allowed. He went on to retire the next eight batters, tallying a total of five strikeouts in the process.
During this time, the Vols’ offense also made sure to make a statement. Designated hitter Trent Grindlinger smacked a ball to center field which drove in second baseman Blake Grimmer, giving Grindlinger an RBI double and putting the Vols up 1-0 early.
In the very next inning, shortstop Manny Marin hit a hard grounder down the third-base line which was fumbled by Texas left fielder Anthony Pack Jr., allowing Vols first baseman Levi Clark to score. Just a couple of pitches later, Texas starting pitcher Dylan Volantis threw a wild pitch which allowed Marin to race home and put the Vols up 3-0 in only the second inning.
After that, Tennessee’s scoring went quiet, but Tegan Kuhns made sure to make some noise of his own.
Kuhns pitched through the end of the seventh inning. In that time, he threw 113 total pitches, with 83 of those being strikes. Of course, with all those strikes came a lot of strikeouts. Kuhns finished the game with 15 total strikeouts, which is a new career high for the standout sophomore.
This is the third time this season that Kuhns has had 10+ strikeouts in a game, after recording 10 against UCLA back in February and another 10 against Ole Miss just a couple of weeks ago. He also became just the second pitcher in the SEC this season to record 15 strikeouts; LSU sophomore Casan Evans was the first to do so against Oklahoma back in March.
After Kuhns left the game, the Vols decided it was time to add the finishing touches to their score. Blake Grimmer got a hold of a ball and rocketed a grounder to right field which drove in left fielder Blaine Brown and catcher Stone Lawless to bring Tennessee’s run total to five on the night.
Coming in to relieve Kuhns after his career performance was redshirt junior Brandon Arvidson. He pitched the remaining two innings, racking up four strikeouts and giving up the only run of the night on a Texas home run.
The Vols take game one of the series and look to build upon this heading into the final two games. Game two is scheduled for Saturday, May 9th, with the first pitch at 6:00 pm ET.
