Notebook: Billy Amick adds pair of home runs for Tennessee baseball in second consecutive game

Billy Amick and the Tennessee baseball offense pushed past the Missouri Tigers on Thursday.

Behind six homers from the Vols offense, they defeated Missouri 10-1, in game one of the series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. 

“You know, Marshawn Lynch I think is the great American philosopher,” head coach Tony Vitello said. “I think he said, ‘You’re gonna get got, but I’m not gonna get got’ or whatever he said.”

For the No. 3 Vols (35-7, 13-6), they never ‘got got’ by the Tigers (19-24, 6-13), leading the entire way. 

Here are three takeaways from the win. 

Billy Amick's power surge highlights offense

Amick was a highly coveted transfer from Clemson this offseason.

He was sought after for good reason, too. Vitello had a firsthand look at him when the Vols played Clemson in the NCAA Regionals last season.

Amick’s adjustment to SEC baseball has taken time, but as the season enters the latter half, the former All-ACC team member has put himself into All-SEC team territory. 

On Tuesday against Western Carolina, Amick put two home runs to his name alongside seven RBIs.

On Thursday, the hot streak continued. The star third baseman went 3-for-5 with two homers and four RBIs. He now sits at 16 blasts on the year while sporting a .357 batting average. 

Chris Stamos delivers season-best outing

The former California Golden Bear southpaw was the last name added to the Tennessee baseball roster in August.

Come SEC play, Chris Stamos has been the Vols’ Friday night starter.

However, the journey in between is far beyond simple. After being a starter starter at Cal, the left-handed pitcher moved to Tennessee with an expected role as a reliever in the bullpen. He started the season just as that.

He made his season debut in February against Oklahoma and immediately turned eyes with a triple play during his outing. 

The season continued and Stamos’ role was still situational, being brought into games as a pitching matchup arm. 

Then, AJ Causey began to struggle. 

That is when Stamos’ reserve appearances changed into spot starts on Friday nights. Prior to the LSU series, Vitello named Stamos the starter and it is a role he has stuck to over the past three series. 

On Thursday, the Cal transfer put his best setup performance forth. In 2.2 innings of work, Stamos delivered three strikeouts and allowed just three hits while keeping the scoreboard clean while handing the ball off to Causey. 

“We were just kind of mixing his pitches,” catcher Cal Stark said about Stamos. “He just looked good tonight. He gave us a great chance to win the ball game.”

Through three starts, Stamos has put together 5.2 innings of one-run baseball. He has allowed six hits with six strikeouts and just one earned run — earning a 1.73 ERA during that span and dropping his season ERA to 2.89.

“I think he was on a little better rhythm in the two home games and maybe that one,” Vitell said. “But overall, he’s been great for us, and you kind of know you’re going to get that fire. He’s going to be intense, and he’s going to give you all he’s got until you take him out of the game.”

Cal Stark providing spark

After being the full-time starter during Tennessee’s 2023 College World Series run, Vitello and company decided that Stark needed competition heading into 2024.

Therefore, he brought in NC State transfer Cannon Peebles and Missouri transfer Dalton Bargo. 

The challenge was not anything that Stark could not handle, however. Despite not being the opening-day starter, Stark eventually earned his role back — and he has delivered in SEC play. Twelve of his 16 hits have come in conference play, batting .293 during that span. 

He said he never even thought about leaving. 

“I love this place,” Stark said. “I’m from here. I didn’t want to go anywhere else. I wanted to have a competition to be able to play. It’s just the family aspect of it, building a family-like atmosphere around here. There wasn’t ever a thought of leaving — I wanted to play in the orange and white.”

Extra, extra

Peebles also joined in on the fun. The transfer finally got the break he has been searching for all season. In the eighth inning of Thursday’s game, Peebles sent a ball over the wall in right-center, marking his first homer in a Tennessee uniform.

“It’s pretty cool to see,” Vitello said. “I think it did just as much for his teammates as it did for him. They were thrilled, glad it worked out the way it did, getting the monkey off his back or whatever you want to throw on it. But the bottom line is, the kid’s worked his butt off.

"So anything he gets, whether it’s a bloop hit or a ball going over the fence the way it did, he deserves it.”

Tennessee resumes the series on Friday with a 6:30 p.m. ET pitch.