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Liam Doyle shines with 14-strikeout masterpiece in return to Ole Miss
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Tennessee and Ole Miss are meeting in a top-10 series showdown this weekend, and former Rebel Liam Doyle was quite literally at the center of Friday’s series opener in Oxford.
After a freshman season spent at Coastal Carolina, Doyle spent the 2024 season at Ole Miss, where the Rebels ultimately struggled and missed the NCAA Tournament entirely. The lefty then transferred to play for Tony Vitello at Tennessee, and Doyle has looked like one of the best pitchers in the entire country so far this season.
In his return to Oxford, Doyle was especially sharp, and that’s a bit of an understatement. The star southpaw registered a career-high for innings pitched with 8.1, scattering just 2 earned runs after the Vols had staked themselves to a 3-0 lead.
Doyle also delivered 14 strikeouts in one of the most dominant starts this season. Of the 8 full innings completed, Doyle ended 5 of those innings with a strikeout, including the 7th and 8th innings.
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Offensively, Manny Marin opened the scoring for Tennessee with a 2-run double in the 2nd, and Hunter Ensley tacked on with an RBI groundout in the 5th. However, the story was about Doyle from start to finish.
He left with a runner on and 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, but Nate Snead and Dylan Loy combined to slam the door shut and preserve the 3-2 series opening win.
Doyle would face 30 Ole Miss batters while striking out 14. He allowed just 3 hits and 2 walks and was only tagged for the earned runs via a 5th inning home run.
Overall, the start of the weekend is a nice bounce back for Tennessee in pursuit of another College World Series appearance. After climbing to No. 1 overall in the country, the Vols suffered their first SEC series loss of the season last weekend before rebounding with a midweek win over Alabama State and now winning the first of 3 vs. Ole Miss.
The two sides will be back in action at 5 pm ET on Saturday before wrapping up the series at 3 pm ET on Sunday.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
