Taylor’s grand slam paces No. 23 Vols
The abundance of games throughout the course of a baseball season at any level gives each player the chance to have his moment.
Tuesday was Charlie Taylor’s night to remember, as Tennessee’s backup catcher launched a grand slam to straightaway center field in the third inning to ignite the No. 23 Volunteers to a 9-4 downing of Austin Peay inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound redshirt sophomore from the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody entered Tuesday having played in just 19 of Tennessee’s 48 contests and having posted a .219 batting average.
Taylor’s blast gave the Vols a 6-1 lead, but they would have to navigate a calamitous sixth inning in which Tennessee relief pitchers Bryce Jenkins and Andrew Behnke combined to walk home three Governors runs. The Vols wound up walking a season-high 10 batters.
Griffin Merritt homered to left-center as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning for a 7-4 advantage, and Maui Ahuna went deep to right in the eighth. Tennessee pounded four homers on the evening, with Christian Scott’s shot to left-center in the second having put the Vols up 1-0.
The Vols, who improved to 33-16, will host their final Southeastern Conference series of the season beginning Friday against No. 17 Kentucky.
Austin Peay dropped to 23-26 after becoming Tennessee’s latest midweek victim. The Vols are 63-10 in midweek games under coach Tony Vitello, which includes a 24-3 mark the past two seasons.
Tennessee’s final midweek game of the 2023 regular season will be next Tuesday against visiting Belmont.