By Jeremy Knouff
It was a strange and disappointing afternoon, especially if you were sitting in the pouring rain at Lindsey Nelson Stadium wearing orange and white.
After winning the two previous games at home, the Tennessee Volunteers baseball team fell victim to the Wright State Raiders inside the friendly confines of Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The final score was 6-0 in favor of the squad out of Dayton, Ohio.
This victory improved Wright State’s record to 5-8, while Tennessee dropped to 12-4.
Whether it was daylight savings time beginning or the overcast Knoxville weather, Tennessee never got the bats going, failing to create any offensive momentum
The best opportunity the Volunteers had to score came in the third inning, when Levi Clark fled to home plate after a base hit to left field.
Unfortunately for Tennessee, he was gunned down from left field and met by catcher Zac Butler, who tagged him out.
“You kind of get ahead of yourself, and you try to do too much,” Tennessee left-fielder Garrett Wilson said. “That’s not our approach.”
Though Tennessee had more hits than the Raiders (six to five), Tennessee wasn’t able to translate those hits into runs.
One inning in particular fueled the fire for Wright State, as outfielder Cam Gilkerson singled to start the sixth inning.
For the Raiders, though, junior infielder JP Peltier undoubtedly was the star of the show.
Moments after Gilkerson’s base hit, Peltier roped a double into left field, bringing home the first two runs of the game for the Raiders.
Later on in the eighth, Peltier would once again light up the scoreboard, smashing a solo home run over the left field wall.
Adding further insult to injury, Wright State’s Zac Butler would build on his already strong performance, slashing his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field.
“[This] needs to burn a little bit, and they need to remember we go to work tomorrow,” Tennessee Head Coach Josh Elander said.
The Volunteers must stay focused with SEC conference play beginning next weekend.
It is clear that Tennessee must stay true to its identity.
Tennessee pitcher Evan Blanco remains confident in this team’s ability to make a deep postseason run, and to replicate the success that Tony Vitello brought to Rocky Top.
Blanco admitted, however, that the “free passes” for opposing teams must be limited.
“We can’t forget that we won the series,” Blanco said. “We [still] won two close games.”
The Volunteers will have one more test before they begin SEC play, as they welcome Tennessee Tech at 6:00 pm ET on Tuesday, March 10.