By Lohan Sutton
A packed house. A new attendance record on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Another late-game blow-up for the Volunteers.
LSU steals game one of the series from the Volunteers despite a stellar start on the mound for Tennessee’s Landon Mack.
The sophomore was dealing on the mound for the Volunteers, as he carved through the LSU lineup for seven strong innings – a season high for innings pitched, and his best SEC performance with 10 strikeouts.
Mack was able to get out of an early jam in the second inning with bases loaded to keep the Tiger offense quiet.
The first run was scored in the third inning by LSU right fielder Jake Brown on a solo shot to deep left field. However, that would be the only damage inflicted on the Volunteer defense early.
Tennessee responded with its own solo shot by Levi Clark, marking his fourth homer of the season and tying the game 1-1.
A three-up, three-down in the fourth for the Volunteer defense started a streak of four consecutive innings without a Tiger reaching base.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Tennessee right fielder Reese Chapman launched a 401-foot two-run rocket to deep right to put the Volunteers up 3-1.
In the next inning, Chapman made the play of the night when he robbed a would-be home run at the wall to keep the Volunteers’ lead at two.
The Volunteer vibes were high in the bottom of the seventh when the bases were loaded, and Blake Grimmer drew a walk to push across a run to make it 4-1 Tennessee heading into the final two innings.
That is when the bullpen drama unfolded.
Mack was relieved for the eighth, and the questions about the pitching started.
Brandon Arvidson took the assignment, only to come in walking the first three batters to load the bases. After getting the first out and the bases still loaded, Tennessee called the bullpen one again for Bo Rhudy.
Rhudy’s first meeting at the plate was LSU center fielder Derek Curiel, who greeted him with a grand slam to left, flipping the lead 5-4 in favor of LSU.
The very next batter, Seth Dardan, launched a solo homer and suddenly the Tigers were up 6-4, leaving the Volunteers stunned.
“When you don’t throw strikes sometimes, the good teams are going to get you. That’s what happened tonight,” said Tennessee head coach Josh Elander.
Another late homer came in the ninth inning by LSU left fielder Chris Stanfield, pushing the advantage to 7-4.
After the first two batters struck out for Tennessee in the bottom of the ninth, Grimmer drilled a solo shot to right field to cut the lead 7-5, showing some fight left in the Volunteers. To close the game, Chapman went down swinging for the final out, giving the Tigers game one of the series, 7-5.
“Can’t dwell on what happened tonight,” said Chapman.
The catastrophe in the eighth raises questions about the dependency of the Tennessee bullpen, a unit that was supposed to be a strength heading into the season.
Friday’s meltdown will be a focal point as the Vols try to even the series in the next game Saturday at 6 p.m. EST.