HOOVER, Ala. — Tennessee baseball’s run at the SEC Tournament came to an end on Saturday afternoon when Vanderbilt run-ruled the Vols 10-0 in seven innings.
The Commodores jumped on Tennessee from the jump and Tennessee was unable to adequately respond due to lackluster pitching and inopportune hitting. Here’s how it went down.
Vanderbilt’s Offense Jumps On Tennessee’s Pitching Early
Tennessee’s pitching depth wasn’t in a horrible spot entering the game but the Vols needed a strong Tegan Kuhns outing if they were going to beat the Commodores and especially if they were going to have enough pitching to win Sunday’s championship game.
That was not the case. Kuhns struggled early with Vanderbilt running him from the game in the second inning.
The first inning wasn’t all that bad for Kuhns. He allowed a seeing-eye single to leadoff that game. Rustan Rigdon stole second and scored two batters later on a Riley Nelson single to right field.
It was the second inning when things quickly got away from Kuhns. Three singles in four at-bats scored one run and ended his day. Dylan Loy relieved him and wasn’t able to exit trouble. A Dean Curley throwing error to first base on a sacrifice squeeze allowed the run to score and runners to reached second and third. Both those runs scored on the ensuing Rigdon single to centerfield.
Kuhns ended his day allowing four earned runs on five hits in 1.1 innings pitched. Vanderbilt scored five runs before Tennessee recorded five outs in what was a poor start for the Vols.
Vanderbilt’s Cody Bowker Gets In A Groove
Vanderbilt starter Cody Bowker got off to a rough start, walking both Gavin Kilen and Andrew Fischer to open up the game. But from there, Bowker was stellar.
The junior pitcher proceeded to strike out the next three batters to get out of the first inning unscathed. That started a roll for Bowker, he recorded four outs and struck out three batters in the second inning thanks to Cannon Peebles reaching base on a dropped third strike.
Bowker ran into some trouble in the fourth inning when Curley led off the inning with a single and Reese Chapman doubled to right field. But a dumb base running decision by Curley allowed Vanderbilt to throw him out at the plate, ending Tennessee’s brief momentum.
The right-handed starter ended his day allowing no runs on three hits and two walks while striking out nine batters in four innings. He didn’t pitch super deep into the game but it was plenty with the Commodores offensive output.
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Some Good, Mostly Bad From Tennessee’s Bullpen
Loy’s struggled continued against the Commodores after the second inning. There was some unhelpful defense behind him, via a Gavin Kilen fielding error that would have ended the inning, but things did not go much better for Loy in the fourth inning.
A single, the fielding error, a walk to lead the bases and a wild pitch ended Loy’s day in the third inning. Vanderbilt had Loy’s number in the regular season and the lefty finished the day allowing three runs (just one earned) on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings pitched.
While it was a rough outing for Loy, hard throwing Tanner Franklin had a nice outing. The junior allowed three runs on three hits and a walk while striking out three batters in three innings pitched. It tied his second longest outing of the season. Franklin’s line was better than the numbers indicated though.
Two of his earned runs scored on singles allowed by Brayden Krenzel after he exited the game. Those two batters were the only ones Krenzel faced.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee’s run at the SEC Tournament comes to an end in the semifinals. The Vols now return to Knoxville where they’ll await their NCAA Tournament draw. The selection committee will release the 16 host sites Sunday night before releasing the entire bracket on Monday at noon ET.
