The combo of Liam Doyle and Tanner Franklin make for ‘tough at-bat’

It’s early in the season but one thing is already clear. Tennessee’s Friday night arms that kick off weekend series makes for some problematic matchups in the box.

The combination of left-handed starter Liam Doyle and right-handed reliever Tanner Franklin the first two Friday nights of the year has been nothing short of spectacular. The proof is in the pudding as the two have combined for 18 innings of one-run baseball and 35 strikeouts.

“They’re elite. They absolutely shove,” catcher Cannon Peebles said postgame on Friday. “They hammer the strike zone, which is good, and let their pitches work. They make my job easy.”

Doyle recorded a new career-high in strikeouts during Friday’s 5-1 win over Samford, retiring 14 Bulldogs. That was three more than last week’s 11 strikeouts against Hofstra on Opening Day and five more than a previous career-high set last year with Ole Miss while pitching against Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Maybe it’s the venue? I doubt it is just that.

The southpaw allowed his first run to cross home plate and walked his first batter of the year against Samford, but he was simply great. In 31 outs collected so far into 2025, Doyle has struck out 25 batters. Pretty good pace.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it was my best stuff, but I had pretty good command of all my stuff,” the lefty said after Friday’s gem. “I stayed pretty competitive in the zone. I trusted my defense and the offense put up enough runs for me to play. Just trying to give my team the best chance to win – throw everything in the zone.”

After Doyle, it doesn’t get any easier for the opposition as 6-foot-5, 225-pound Tanner Franklin enters the ballgame. The hard-throwing righty, who was clocked at 99 miles per hour on Friday, has finished out the games for Doyle’s two starts this season, going a combined 5.2 innings of shutout baseball with 10 strikeouts to no walks.  

“It’s been pretty good. We have similar fastballs but opposites at the same time,” Doyle said of himself and Franklin. “He has some good ride, cut almost, from the right side and I’m a lower-release lefty. So, it plays well off each other.”

The 20 strikeouts combined in Friday’s win over Samford finished one punchout shy of tying a program record. The Vols struck out 21 batters on two sperate occasions – both in the Vitello era. Tennessee accomplished the feat first at Missouri in 2018 and again at home against Indiana in 2019.

So, what has made the combo so difficult for hitters? No better person to ask than the man with a front row seat in Peebles behind the plate.  

“Liam is a lefty with ride. It literally looks like his fastball rises,” the junior marveled. “Tanner Franklin also has ride. He also has a cutter, which kind of cuts and rides up in the zone. So, it is a different look, seeing that pitch from a lefty [batter]. And going over to that righty [batter], seeing that cutter coming into lefties or away righties that still works in the top of the zone – that’s a tough at-bat.”

It’s a long baseball season and we are just in the middle of the second weekend of action. If last year was any indication, things don’t always go according to plan on the mound – or on Fridays to begin the weekend. Still, the Vols have serious depth on the mound and nobody has looked better thus far than the 1-2 combo of Doyle & Franklin.

“It’s really good stuff. I think Frank [Anderson] has done a great job of getting guys to pour it in the zone, but at times too, those guys get ahead in the count and have located some good pitches,” Vitello said on Friday of the duo. “To their credit, the last two weekends, it’s been two different teams. So, against both teams, getting ahead and then hitting spots later in the count has tallied some strikeouts for them.

“I think you got two guys that really like to compete and they’ve both improved greatly since being on campus. They’ve both got stuff that’s probably going to allow them to pitch as long as they want to pitch.”