Tennessee baseball rocks Alabama State 10-0 behind dominant Blade Tidwell start
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Tony Vitello handed the ball to Blade Tidwell as Tennessee baseball's opening starter in the NCAA Tournament.
The Vols pitcher rewarded the Vols coach with a career-high 7⅔ scoreless innings as Tennessee rocked Alabama State in its first game in the Knoxville Regional. The No. 1 Vols (54-7) rolled 10-0 against the No. 4-seeded Hornets (34-24) behind Tidwell and five homers.
"I feel like I've returned to form," Tidwell said.
Senior catcher Evan Russell was not available Friday. Vitello said Russell was sick Friday morning and he was not sure of Russell's availability for the remainder of the weekend.
The Vols will face No. 3 seed Campbell (41-17) on Saturday (7 p.m. ET) in the regional semifinal. Campbell topped No. 2-seeded Georgia Tech 15-8 in the opening game Friday.
“They are as good as advertised," Alabama State coach Jose' Vazquez said. "We had a chance to see what they’ve been doing all year.”
Evan Russell was not available
Russell was not in the starting lineup. Vitello was set to address Russell's status after the game.
Redshirt freshman catcher Charlie Taylor started in Russell's place. Taylor dropped a perfect squeeze bunt down the first-base line in the sixth to score Blake Burke. Vitello ran out of the dugout to celebrate with Taylor. He was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and an RBI.
Russell, a fifth-year senior, is hitting .299 with 13 homers. He has 38 career homers, tied with Todd Helton for the Tennessee program record. Russell had started 50 game this season at catcher.
Blade Tidwell stings Hornets
Tidwell shut out Alabama State for seven innings, his longest outing of the season. He struck out six and had no walks.
“I think getting ahead in the count really helped me out today," Tidwell said. "I hadn’t done that much this year. … When you get ahead, usually your secondary pitchers are better, too.”
The sophomore retired the final 10 batters he faced before departing with two outs in the eighth inning. He allowed singles in the second, third and fifth but never allowed more than one runner in an inning.
“If he is not a first-rounder, I don’t know what it would take to be a first-rounder," Vazquez said.
Tennessee has the power
Jorel Ortega got Tennessee's offense started with an RBI double in the second. He got the power surge rolling with a solo homer that hit high on the batter's eye in centerfield.
UT hit four homers, including back-to-back homers from Jordan Beck and Drew Gilbert in the sixth inning.
Blake Burke added a homer in the eighth. Beck hit his second in the eighth.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. 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: Blade Tidwell leads Tennessee baseball over Alabama State in Knoxville Regional
