Tennessee baseball (15-7, 1-3 SEC) dropped Friday’s series opener to Missouri (16-6, 1-3 SEC) 8-4 in Knoxville.
Tennessee scored two in the sixth and had a pair of solo homers, but missed opportunities combined with a lackluster pitching night led to the disappointing defeat.
Missouri figures to be Tennessee’s easiest opponent in conference play, and the Tigers never trailed. Additionally, Missouri led by at least two runs for the remainder of the game after plating three in the third.
Missouri entered the weekend as one of the weakest offensive teams in the SEC, but the Tigers hit Tennessee’s pitching well.
After recording just five runs on 17 hits in all three games against Auburn last week, Missouri tallied eight runs on 12 hits, out-hitting Tennessee 12-9.
Two of Missouri’s hits were home runs. Missouri entered Friday dead last in the SEC with 19 long balls.
Here’s how it happened as Tennessee suffered its third straight SEC loss.
Tegan Kuhns Not Sharp in Return to LNS
Tennessee starter Tegan Kuhns was not his sharpest against the Tigers. The sophomore worked around a baserunner in the first and second innings but had to use 40 pitches in the two frames combined.
Things got much worse for Kuhns in the third after a leadoff single and one-out double put Missouri on the board.
Then, Tigers’ centerfielder Pierre Seals sent a 1-0 pitch 354 feet off the videoboard for a two-run homer.
A bunt single followed, prompting UT pitching coach Josh Reynolds to talk to Kuhns on the mound. The Pennsylvania native got two quick outs afterward to strand the runner.
But in the third, Missouri second-baseman Blaize Ward roped a leadoff double to chase Kuhns from the contest.
The righty’s velocity was lower than in past outings. After sitting around 96 mph with his fastball in the opening frame, Kuhns’ velo dropped to 93-94 in innings two and three.
The 3.0-inning outing is Kuhns’ shortest of the year. He gave up three runs on six hits, walked one and struck out five on 70 pitches. Kuhns threw at least 20 pitches in every inning he completed.
“Just wasn’t crisp,” head coach Josh Elander said discussing Kuhns’ outing. “I thought the pace was really the difference tonight. It just wasn’t, even between pitches and then getting to the plate, I mean, his time at the plates were 1.5, 1.6 (seconds).
“Wasn’t really giving Stone (Lawless) a chance, and for just whatever reason, it wasn’t crisp and that’s why we went to Fred (Brady Frederick) right away, because he just – the command kind of faltered a little bit. Not the usual Tegan we’re used to seeing.”
Tennessee Strands Five in First Three Innings
Tennessee’s offense missed two good opportunities to get on the scoreboard in the first three innings.
Henry Ford and Blake Grimmer recorded two-out singles in the first, but Reese Chapman grounded out to strand both.
In the third, Chapman had a chance to deliver again with the bases loaded and two outs. However, the senior was rung up on a questionable strike-three call.
The 10th pitch of Chapman’s at-bat seemed to be high and inside for ball three, but home plate umpire Eric Goshay made the surprising inning-ending call.
In total, Tennessee left 11 on base in the loss and stranded the bases loaded twice.
“Execution, period,” Elander said reacting to the lack of situational hitting. “We talk about it, especially Friday night in this league, as good as the arms are, you may have one chance to get the starter. We were fortunate to have two, and we didn’t get it done either time.
“The guy did a good job of keeping us off the barrel or whatever it may be – we can talk about it – but at this point in the year, you either get it done or you don’t. And there’s no redos. So our guys need to execute a little bit better and calm down in those moments… You leave 10 guys on base, that’s not a formula for success.”
Frederick’s Outing Goes Downhill in the Fifth
Junior right-hander Brady Frederick relieved Kuhns after the leadoff double in the fourth. The ETSU transfer quickly got three outs, needing just five pitches.
Frederick came back out in the fifth and got the first two outs, but things went south quickly. Missouri center fielder Kaden Peer sent a hard-hit ground ball up the middle that hit Frederick in the lower-body before ricocheting off the mound into the infield.
A single and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases afterward, allowing Ward to drive a pair in with a two-run single up the middle.
The two-RBI hit gave Missouri a 5-1 lead through five frames.
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Tennessee Chips Away in the Sixth
Stone Lawless put Tennessee on the board in the fourth with a solo homer, but Tennessee’s offense didn’t find any true momentum until the sixth.
A Chapman leadoff ground-rule double and Manny Marin put runners on the corners with no outs.
After Marin stole second with one out, Jay Abernathy connected for a hard-hit RBI groundout to plate Chapman.
Head coach Josh Elander then opted to pinch-hit Tyler Myatt for Ariel Antigua, and the decision paid off as Myatt drilled an RBI single to right field.
Tennessee’s pair of sixth-inning runs halved Missouri’s lead, but the Tigers would get it all back and some in the seventh.
Three-Run Homer Too Much to Overcome
Star left-hander Brandon Arvidson relieved Frederick to open the sixth and wasn’t his best.
The Dripping Springs, Texas, native worked around a pair of baserunners to prevent any runs in the sixth but allowed three in the seventh.
After Mateo Serna walked and Ward singled for his third hit of the day, third baseman Keegan Knutson delivered a no-doubt, three-run homer to left field. Knutson’s first blast of the season gave the Tigers a five-run lead that proved to be the final blow.
Arvidson sat the Tigers down in order in the eighth and ninth, but a Blaine Brown leadoff homer in the seventh was Tennessee’s only run in the final three frames.
Tennessee made things interesting in the ninth, working a trio of walks against relievers JD Dohrmann and Isaiah Salas to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. But Marin struck out against reliever Sam Rosand, who earned the save.
Up Next
Tennessee will look to even the series Saturday night in Knoxville at 6 p.m. ET. SEC Network + has the stream.
“We’re gonna see what we got,” Elander said. “At this point, we won a game last Friday night but didn’t finish the weekend… This is a good test. We’re at home on our home turf. Our crowd was amazing tonight, and we need to perform better for them. This is an amazing facility that’s been built. But, Saturday at home, 6 o’clock, Lindsey Nelson Stadium, and then you got a quick turnaround on Sunday. So, we’ll find out what we got these next two days.”
