Tennessee baseball’s offense was lifeless, totaling just two hits as the Vols dropped game two of their weekend series against Ole Miss 8-1 on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
Here’s how Ole Miss clinched the weekend series in Knoxville behind strong pitching and just enough hitting.
Both Starting Pitchers Were Terrific
It was a vintage SEC Friday night pitcher’s duel on Saturday afternoon as Ole Miss’ Cade Townsend and Tennessee’s Tegan Kuhns were each dominant.
The Vols had no answers for Townsend. The sophomore retired the first 12 batters he faced before hitting Blake Grimmer to lead off the fifth inning. Tennessee didn’t capitalize on its two baserunners in the fifth inning and didn’t record its first hit until the six inning.
Townsend finished his day with six shutout innings while allowing one hit, two walks and striking out seven.
Kuhns was not as dominant but really good himself. He worked around trouble in each of the first three innings with some help from the wind. However, Kuhns threw 62 pitches in the process. Similar to last week in Starkville, Kuhns did a strong job of pitching around trouble.
But the right-handed pitcher got in a groove from there, retiring nine straight batters before a two-out single ended his day in the sixth inning. Kuhns allowed five hits but no runs while tying his career-high with 10 strikeouts and throwing a career-high 94 pitches.
Tennessee Was Unable To Take Advantage Of A Sixth Inning Opportunity
The Vols looked like they were in business in the sixth inning when a Garrett Wright single and a Reese Chapman walk gave Tennessee two-on with one-out.
When Henry Ford got up in the count 3-0, the Vols were in a great spot to pounce. Ford thought he walked on a 3-0 pitch but home plate umpire Morris Hodges ruled it a strike. Ford swung through a 3-1 pitch and then flew out to right-center on the first 3-2 pitch.
Wright tagged up to third on the Ford fly out and Chapman stole second early in the next at-bat. But Blake Grimmer struck out swinging and Tennessee failed to capitalize on its best scoring opportunity.
While the sixth inning was a missed opportunity, Tennessee simply did not give itself enough opportunities.
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Ole Miss Got To Cam Appenzeller
Star Tennessee reliever Cam Appenzeller came in to relieve Kuhns and quickly recorded the final out of the inning to strand a baserunner at third base.
But things were a bit dicey from there for the freshman lefty. Appenzeller struggled with his command in the seventh inning, walking the first two batters of the inning and then throwing a wild pitch that allowed both to advance 90 feet.
Ole Miss opened the scoring when a Dom Decker sac fly played Brayden Randle. Appenzeller got out of the inning allowing just one run despite not having his best stuff.
Then Tennessee’s defense let Appenzeller down in the eighth inning. With one-out and one-on, Hayden Federico hit a line drive to left that should have been a single. Instead, Blaine Brown attempted to make an ill-advised diving catch. He did not come close to making it allowing the run to score from first base.
Ole Miss then opened up the game in the top of the ninth inning when three leadoff singles loaded the bases before Tristan Bissetta smoked a grand slam to right-center field.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee and Ole Miss conclude their series finale on Sunday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch for the series rubber match/finale is at 1 p.m. ET with the SEC Network+ streaming the game.
