Tony Vitello raves over contributions from Andrew Lindsey vs. South Carolina

Tony Vitello took Andrew Lindsey off the mound less than one inning away from throwing a complete game during No. 18 Tennessee‘s 5-0 road win over No. 13 South Carolina on Friday. Lindsey wanted to stay in the game but with 103 pitches logged and two more outs to go — Vitello make the executive call.

“He’s a guy that is an ultimate competitor and he wants to be on the field. He even admitted to me that he was going on fumes there for the last couple of innings,” Vitello said of Lindsey. “Command, maybe backed up a little bit. Maybe they took some of their better swings at the end. But he still had good stuff. Ball was still moving. 

“… I think now he can officially feel like he’s built his arm up, built up repetitions and so there’s nothing really holding him back.”

The at-bat before Lindsey was relieved, South Carolina’s Will Tippett led Lindsey 3-0 in the count, but Lindsey stayed calm and recorded two strikes before seeing Tippett ground out to third base. Aaron Combs relieved Lindsey and went on to strike out the only two batters he faced in six pitches.

Lindsey’s masterful performance on the mound saw the junior throw 8.1 innings of three-hit baseball that included five strikeouts. Out of his 103 total pitches, 63 were called strikes. 

“Almost with every pitch he throws, there’s not a lot of similarities even if you’re going to go the same type of pitch,” Vitello said. “He’s just one of those guys where it’s not the same type of look. He was after the strike zone and had some defensive behind him a little bit.”

On the season, Lindsey has made 18 apperances for the Vols in 2023 inlcuding six starts. Through 56.2 innings pitched, he has accumulated a 2.54 ERA having given up 16 earned runs (22 total) on 44 hits. Opposing offenses are hitting .211 off him this season — the second best mark on the Vols’ entire pitching staff (minimum 25 IP).

Lindsey and the Vols defensive until couldn’t have done it on their own. Tennessee batters ended up logging five runs on 10 hits including 11 walks — four of which came from star CF Hunter Ensley. He knocked in three of their five runs on the afternoon. Freshman Dylan Dreiling scored the remaining two runs after going 2-for-4 at bat with a home run as well.