Tennessee rolls 16-6, Hawn injured

Tennessee didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard in its season opener on Friday afternoon. The Vols hit early and often on the way to a 16-6 victory over the Xavier Musketeers before 2,300 fans at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Vols, led by four hits from Khayyan Norfolk and three hits each by P.J. Polk and Josh Liles, loaded the bases just three pitches into the contest. With the bases full of Volunteers, Blake Forsythe smacked a two-run double to left field that put Tennessee on the board and the Vols would never look back.

Josh Liles, Drew Steckenrider, and Cody Hawn, each had home runs. For Steckenrider, the pinch-hit blast down the right-field line was the first at bat of his young Tennessee career.

“It felt really good coming off the bat,” said Steckenrider. “First at bat, third pitch. I was looking for a pitch I liked and got it on the inner-half and it just happened to go over the fence.”

Steckenrider knew it was out when he hit it.

“It felt really good off of the bat,” said Steckenrider. “I saw the flight of it going. It felt good.”

Pitcher Bryan Morgado, who allowed only four hits and three runs in five innings of work, was appreciative of the offensive explosion.

“It was huge,” said Morgado. “It gave me confidence to come out there. I knew right off the bat that this team can hit — as you saw today. Right off the bat we scored those runs.”

“I knew all I had to do was get guys out and keep the game far from reach and that’s exactly what we did.”

Freshman pitcher Nick Blount came on in the sixth inning and was very impressive. Blount pitched two innings of no-hit baseball, striking out two batters in his Tennessee debut.

Coach Todd Raleigh was impressed with Blount’s performance.

“Nick was fantastic,” said Raleigh. “He didn’t look like a freshman. He came out and pitched really well. I couldn’t be more pleased with what he did.”

The lone dark spot on the afternoon came in the fifth inning when Morgado attempted a pick-off at first base. With runner caught between first and second, preseason All-American Cody Hawn attempted a sweeping tag and injured his left shoulder on the play.

The extent of the injury is unknown but Hawn is expected to undergo an x-ray and MRI.

“It’s not good,” said a concerned Todd Raleigh after the game. “Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious.”

“The blessing was it’s his non-throwing shoulder,” Raleigh added. “So being a non-throwing shoulder, hopefully it’s not a long recovery.”

The second game of the series will be played at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Sophomore Steven Gruver will take the mound for Tennessee.