BATON ROUGE, La. − Cannon Peebles was quiet after the loudest swing for Tennessee baseball.
The Vols catcher hopped once and gently dropped his bat along the first-base line, the ball careening toward the bleachers beyond left field at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium. The three-run homer bounced down a tunnel and the No. 6 Vols had the decisive blow after seven innings waiting for it.
Peebles and Marcus Phillips silenced Baton Rouge and the largest crowd in LSU baseball history, evening the series with the No. 5 Tigers in a 9-3 win. The Vols (35-8, 13-7 SEC) and Tigers (35-9, 13-7) play the rubber match Sunday (3 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
Peebles was 2-for-3 with five RBIs. Phillips allowed two runs on three hits in 6⅔ innings. He struck out six and walked four.
Marcus Phillips turned in one of his best starts
Phillips no-hit the Tigers for five innings before Steven Milam doubled to lead off the fifth inning.
He delivered the second quality start of the series for the Vols after Liam Doyle was tremendous in the opener Friday.
Cannon Peebles was highly productive before his homer
Peebles had a six-pitch walk in his first at-bat and kept producing. The catcher hit an RBI single in the fourth. He struck a sacrifice fly to score a run in the eight, making sure Tennessee got a run out of a bases loaded situation. His homer in the eight put UT ahead 9-2 after a two-run single from Dalton Bargo extended the lead to 6-2.
Tennessee received many quality at-bats, including Peebles’ three.
Gavin Kilen singled to cap a 12-pitch at-bat in the first. Manny Marin battled for an 11-pitch walk in the sixth. Ariel Antigua drove in a run on 0-2 groundout, walked and was hit by a pitch. Andrew Fischer walked three times.
Tennessee dodged potential fifth-inning disaster
Reese Chapman struck out looked and Kilen was thrown out stealing third to end the top of the fifth as the Vols didn’t score with a two-on, one-out situation.
Phillips got into the same in the bottom of the fifth. Milam doubled and pinch hitter Ashton Larson walked to put runners on the corners. Kilen missed a foul pop up, keeping the pressure on Phillips. He got Chris Stanfield to fly out and threw out Curiel on a bunt attempt to end the inning.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball beats LSU behind Cannon Peebles, Marcus Phillips
BATON ROUGE, La. − Cannon Peebles was quiet after the loudest swing for Tennessee baseball.
The Vols catcher hopped once and gently dropped his bat along the first-base line, the ball careening toward the bleachers beyond left field at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium. The three-run homer bounced down a tunnel and the No. 6 Vols had the decisive blow after seven innings waiting for it.
Peebles and Marcus Phillips silenced Baton Rouge and the largest crowd in LSU baseball history, evening the series with the No. 5 Tigers in a 9-3 win. The Vols (35-8, 13-7 SEC) and Tigers (35-9, 13-7) play the rubber match Sunday (3 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
Peebles was 2-for-3 with five RBIs. Phillips allowed two runs on three hits in 6⅔ innings. He struck out six and walked four.
Marcus Phillips turned in one of his best starts
Phillips no-hit the Tigers for five innings before Steven Milam doubled to lead off the fifth inning.
He delivered the second quality start of the series for the Vols after Liam Doyle was tremendous in the opener Friday.
Cannon Peebles was highly productive before his homer
Peebles had a six-pitch walk in his first at-bat and kept producing. The catcher hit an RBI single in the fourth. He struck a sacrifice fly to score a run in the eight, making sure Tennessee got a run out of a bases loaded situation. His homer in the eight put UT ahead 9-2 after a two-run single from Dalton Bargo extended the lead to 6-2.
Tennessee received many quality at-bats, including Peebles’ three.
Gavin Kilen singled to cap a 12-pitch at-bat in the first. Manny Marin battled for an 11-pitch walk in the sixth. Ariel Antigua drove in a run on 0-2 groundout, walked and was hit by a pitch. Andrew Fischer walked three times.
Tennessee dodged potential fifth-inning disaster
Reese Chapman struck out looked and Kilen was thrown out stealing third to end the top of the fifth as the Vols didn’t score with a two-on, one-out situation.
Phillips got into the same in the bottom of the fifth. Milam doubled and pinch hitter Ashton Larson walked to put runners on the corners. Kilen missed a foul pop up, keeping the pressure on Phillips. He got Chris Stanfield to fly out and threw out Curiel on a bunt attempt to end the inning.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball beats LSU behind Cannon Peebles, Marcus Phillips
