Dominant Pitching Leads Vols to Sweep of Olney

CARTERVILLE - When you don't give up a run, it's very tough to lose; and that's what the Vols did on Saturday. Tanner Gordon and Brenden Heiss shut down the Blue Knights, combining to give up zero runs, only five hits, while striking out 30; leading Logan to the 6-0 and 1-0 victories. The sweep gave the Vols the season series win over Olney and puts their overall record at 26-13 and 13-4 in GRAC play. The Vols will be back in action on Tuesday, when they are scheduled to play at Shawnee for a doubleheader, with first pitch at 1 p.m.

In game one the offesne got things going in the second, when they would strike for two runs, first on a RBI fielder's choice from Ashton Creal and then a well-executed double steal allowed Cameron Touchette to score the second run. That would be all the run support Tanner Gordon would need. Gordon (6-2), the Indiana signee, would scattering two hits, while striking out 19, in his complete game shutout victory. Logan would add on to their lead in the fourth on a two-out RBI single from Jeremy Gaines. The Vols would put the game out of reach in the 8th, when AJ Lewis would hit an RBI double, followed by a two-run blast by Ashton Creal, his second of the year, to make it 6-0. AJ Lewis and Hunter Combs would lead the way, going 3-4 with a double each.

Game two was a true pitcher's duel, with the only run of the game coming on a walk-off hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the 7th. Brenden Heiss would throw a complete game, scattering three hits, while striking out 11. Heiss would work out of jams in the 3rd and 4th, stranding two Olney base runners each inning. The Blue Knights looked like they were going to score in the 7th, when they had a runner on 2nd with 1-out. Off the bat, it looked like a single up the middle, but Jeremy Gaines would lay out to stop the ball, get up and fire a strike to first to get the runner. Heiss would strand the runner on third, striking out the next batter to end the inning. AJ Lewis would use that momentum from the top half of the inning to lead off the bottom half with a double and would advance to 3rd on an error from the right fielder. After two walks the Vols had the bases loaded with zero outs; but after two strikeouts, Blake Johnson came to the plate as the last hope to score. Johnson would fall behind 0-2 in the count and work back to make it a 2-2 count before a curveball didn't break and plunked him in the arm, giving the Vols the 1-0 victory.

"That is a big series win against a very good Olney team.  All three games had the feeling of playoff baseball." Head Coach Kyle Surprenant said. "For us to bounce back after a tough loss late on Thursday and win the next two games shows a lot about our team.  I cannot say enough about our pitching in all three games.  Tanner (Gordon) and Brenden (Heiss) were flat out dominant in today's performances.  Tanner was a different kind of special today.  He pitched ahead in the count with 3 pitches and did a great job of keeping the hitters off balance.  It was fun to sit back and watch him work.  Today was as loose as I have seen Brenden pitch in a while.  He located his fastball for the most part as good as I have seen him.  He made a small bump in velocity which made his secondary stuff that much better.  His last couple outings have been very good and it's exciting to see the improvements that he continues to make.  Hunter Combs did a great job behind the plate today.  He called two of the best games I have seen him call all year.  He had a plan and stuck with it while making adjustments when needed.  He matured a lot today.  That play by Jeremy Gaines was a big league play.  If that ball gets through we are looking at a tie ball game with the go ahead run on base.  Who knows what happens if (Jeremy) doesn't make that play."