KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 3/14 Tennessee opened the Josh Elander era with an emphatic 10-0 run-rule victory over Nicholls on Friday evening in front of a record crowd of 6,977.
The Big Orange gave Vol Nation plenty to cheer for during the first game in the newly renovated Lindsey Nelson Stadium, blasting three home runs to go along with five doubles while holding the Colonels to just two hits in a shutout effort.
Sophomore right-hander Tegan Kuhns was lights out in his first-career Friday start, tossing 6.2 shutout innings with eight strikeouts to earn his first win of the year.Four Vols finished the game with multiple hits, including Reese Chapman, who drove in the UT's first two runs of the year with a pair of RBI doubles in the first and third innings.
Stone Lawless also had an RBI double in the bottom of the third and capped the night with a walk-off solo blast to left field to send the run-rule into effect in the eighth inning.
Nic Abraham finished the game on the mound for the Vols with 1.1 hitless frames in relief of Kuhns.