Tennessee
What Tennessee Baseball's Pitching Staff Looks Like After Aaron Combs' Outing Against Indiana | Rocky Top Insider
Despite leading by six runs with one-out in the eighth inning, Tennessee inserted star reliever Aaron Combs to record the final five outs of the Vols’ 12-6 victory over Indiana in the pivotal fourth game of the Knoxville Regional.
Indiana was threatening with two on and had already scored two runs in the inning. After a dominant relief outing from Andrew Behnke, both Marcus Phillips and Dylan Loy combined for just the one out while allowing three hits and a walk. That’s when Vitello made the move to Combs instead of having him go into Sunday’s Knoxville Regional completely fresh.
But according to the Vols’ seventh-year head coach, Tennessee always planned on using Combs at some point.
“There’s nothing to save and today was a big day for anyone that was in the winner’s bracket because you want to get into a position where you can watch the game tomorrow,” Vitello said. “He was down there in the fourth inning, so it was a matter of kind of measuring it the way we wanted to and Behnke kind of flipped the script on us.”
Behnke entered with two outs in the fourth inning after a short Drew Beam outing. But he pitched a career-high 3.1 innings which pushed back Tennessee’s timeline on when it would use Combs.
More From RTI: Everything Tony Vitello Said After Tennessee Defeated Indiana In Knoxville Regional
“Aaron (Combs) always wants the ball,” Vitello said. “The fact he was out there to close it, I think made it a cleaner ending than it could have been and I think he’ll still be available for, again, whatever lies ahead.”
Combs did what he’s done the last two months, shutting down Indiana to end the game. He threw 28 pitches in the final two innings. Its unclear whether Combs could throw tomorrow but if the regional extends to Monday than the right-handed pitcher could eat more innings.
What does Tennessee’s pitching staff have left entering the regional final against either Indiana or Southern Miss?
Zander Sechrist will almost certainly start and is coming off back-to-back appearances where he’s combined to allow two runs in 12 innings pitched. Star reliever Nate Snead hasn’t thrown yet this weekend and has thrown up to 75 pitches in a number of outings in the last month.
Kirby Connell (34 pitches) and Chris Stamos (16 pitches) will both be available after pitching in Tennessee’s Friday night win over Northern Kentucky. Vitello also said that both Phillips and Loy will be available again on Sunday night.
First pitch for the Vols’ matchup against either Indiana or Southern Miss is at 6 p.m. ET at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
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As oppressive heat bears down on Middle Tennessee, more than 1,800 people are without power in Williamson County near Brentwood.
The outage was first reported at 7:42 a.m. July 1, according to Middle Tennessee Electric.
More than 2,400 customers lost power in the Brentwood area after an excavator used for nearby construction got into the lines and broke a pole, according to Middle Tennessee Electric spokesperson Larry Rose.
The number of outages went down to just over 1,400 customers due to Middle Tennessee Electric being able to switch the circuits around the outage location, Rose said just before 9 a.m.
The location of the damaged pole is on Sunset Road near Clovercroft Road across from the Estates at Telluride.
Rose said outages should fall below 1,000 fairly fast, but some would also remain without power until the pole could be replaced.
Power outages were at 211 customers just before 10 a.m.
Rose estimates work could take up to four hours with Middle Tennessee Electric and contractor crews at the location and working.
No Nashville Electric Service customers over the line in Davidson County were impacted by the outage.
Middle Tennessee continues to be in an extreme heat wave. That’ll last until 8 p.m. July 3, the National Weather Service said July 1. Highs could reach 101 with an index near 110, the weather service said.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – We’re experiencing our hottest weather since summer 2025.
The hottest weather of the year is having a major impact on Middle Tennesseans. Temperatures have soared well above average during the afternoon and remained unusually high at night for several days. That’s caused thousands across Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky to temporarily change the way they go about everyday life. The heat has been so significant that temperatures have actually been in record territory.
For example, this past Sunday, Nashville nearly tied the highest minimum temperature ever for the date — 80° set in 1936. Nashville’s low on Sunday was 79.
As for high temperatures, while it was easily the hottest day of the year on Tuesday, Nashville missed that day’s record by nine degrees.
We’ll be closer on Wednesday, missing it by just six degrees.
There’s an even closer approach in line for Thursday. Our forecast for Nashville is 98°. The record high temperature is 101.
Cooler weather will eventually take over. By early next week, we expect highs to return to more seasonable levels — the low 90s.
For life-saving weather alerts, customized messages on conditions and forecasts, and videos detailing upcoming weather events, download the WSMV 4 First Alert Weather app for iPhone or Android. Have weather pictures or videos? Share them here.
Former Tennessee baseball pitcher Garrett Stallings was called up by the Milwaukee Brewers on June 30.
Stallings, 28, likely will make his major league debut against the Cincinnati Reds on June 30 in the second game of the Brewers’ four-game homestand.
Stallings played at Tennessee from 2017 to 2019 in the early years of Tony Vitello’s stint at the Vols’ head coach. He earned a starting role as a freshman and became the ace by his junior season.
In 2019, the Los Angeles Angels selected Stallings in the fifth round of the MLB draft. He bounced around in the minors before landing firmly in Triple-A with the Norfolk Tides, and later the Brewers’ affiliate Nashville Sounds, in 2024.
Stallings posted a 3-3 record with the Sounds in 2026 with a 3.45 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 62⅔ innings.
He will be the 54th player in Tennessee history to reach the major leagues and the 12th since 2020. He will join left-hander Garrett Crochet (2020); right-hander Ben Joyce (2023); infielder Andre Lipcius (2023); IF Trey Lipscomb (2024); outfielder Jordan Beck (2024); RHP Seth Halvorsen (2024); RHP Chase Dollander (2025); RHP Blade Tidwell (2025); INF Christian Moore (2025); OF Drew Gilbert (2025); and RHP Chad Dallas (2026).
Dallas made his debut for the Toronto Blue Jays on June 4.
Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: wynton.jackson@knoxnews.com
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