Tennessee baseball dropped game three of the Oklahoma series Saturday in Oklahoma City, 12-9.
Tennessee already had the series wrapped and was looking for its first sweep since the Mississippi State series.
But early pitching struggles and sloppy defense put the Vols in a six-run hole they could never overcome despite a strong day offensively.
The Sooners plated six runs in the first inning but only one was earned, as two errors, a wild pitch and four walks led to OU’s crooked number.
The Vols remained consistent at the plate, tallying 10 hits and nine runs. But Oklahoma was able to hold on to salvage the series and win the regular season finale.
Here’s how it happened.
Disastrous First Inning
Freshman lefty Chandler Day started on the mound for Tennessee as Landon Mack missed his second straight weekend with soreness. Due to the fact Cam Appenzeller and Brandon Arvidson already pitched 30+ pitches on the series, Tennessee turned to its other, more unreliable bullpen arms for the series finale.
Day had been one of the more reliable bullpen depth pieces entering the Oklahoma series. But Sunday saw arguably a season-worst outing from the freshman.
Day got the first two outs of the inning relatively quickly before Deiten LaChance took Day deep for a solo homer.
A pair of walks ensued before Ariel Antigua committed a costly error on what should’ve been a routine 6-3 to end the inning.
Two more walks followed, the latter being a bases-loaded RBI walk to spell the end of Day’s day.
Righty Brady Frederick relieved Day. A wild pitch and Henry Ford error would score two more before Frederick gave up an RBI single to score Oklahoma’s sixth and final run of the frame.
Baiotto Provides Stability
Frederick allowed two more runs in the second before being pulled for Mark Hindy.
Hindy allowed two walks but wasn’t horrible in getting three outs on the contest, two of which were via a great double play turned by Ariel Antigua to get out of a bases-loaded jam.
Freshman Ethan Baiotto relieved Hindy with one out, one on in the third.
Baiotto finished the third with relative ease and pitched through the fifth inning. He allowed two runs, one on a wild pitch with a runner in scoring position in the fourth and another in the fifth when LaChance hit his second homer of the game.
But as awful as Tennessee’s pitching was early in the contest, Baiotto provided much-needed stability as Tennessee’s offense continued to make things interesting.
Freshman Will Haas pitched the seventh and the eighth giving up just one run. Surprise, a solo homer to LaChance.
Bo Rhudy retired the side around a solo homer off the bat of Dayton Lockey in the eighth. While the pair of late homers from Oklahoma were key for insurance, it wasn’t the difference in the game as Tennessee lost by three.
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Offense Has Good Day But Can’t Overcome Large Deficit
Tennessee’s offense provided a threat in all but two innings Saturday.
Reese Chapman led the way with four hits and two RBI, both of which came on a big two-run single in the seventh to give Tennessee a chance late.
Henry Ford and Levi Clark each homered while Garrett Wright tallied two RBI.
It was more of the same from Tennessee at the plate. UT’s offense has looked good in every SEC game but games one and two at Kentucky and vs. Ole Miss since the Mississippi State series, and the same applied Saturday. Tennessee out-scored Oklahoma 7-4 after the second inning.
UT was facing an uphill battle with the lack of quality pitching depth Saturday due to Mack’s absence. A few arms settled things as the game progressed, and the offense gave Tennessee a shot, but eight runs from the Sooners in the first two frames ended up being too much.
Up Next
Tennessee awaits results across the league Saturday before knowing when its first game will be in the SEC Tournament.
Game one in Hoover begins at 10:30 a.m. ET Tuesday.
