By Tristan Thornhill
No. 15/8 Tennessee (39-12, 15-11) dropped the second game of rivalry weekend to No. 10/8 Vanderbilt (35-16, 15-11) by a score of 10-6. Vanderbilt reliever Luke Guth earns his first victory, while Marcus Phillips takes his fourth loss of the season, falling to 3-4 on the season.
That’s just baseball, it happens… We didn’t have the best day,” Tennessee utility man Dalton Bargo said. “Not enough to get the job done. Bounce back, play again tomorrow, and go and get the job done.
Vanderbilt’s tag team of Rustan Rigdon and RJ Austin at the top of their lineup combine for 36 stolen bases this year. It was on display early in the game against Tennessee.
Phillips started the game off by hitting the front foot of Rigdon, which is a recipe for disaster. The freshman middle infielder came into today’s game 14-15 in stolen base attempts and improved to 16-17 after the first inning.
When asked if there would be any adjustments to getting guys out on stealing attempts, Tony Vitello bluntly answered, “We’ve got a different starting pitcher tomorrow. The other guys gotta get better at it or [they’re] not gonna pitch.”
Rigdon successfully landed the first blow of the game, after stealing both bags, and reaching home on an RBI ground out by Austin.
The Vols countered with in the bottom of the first. Hunter Ensley continued his phenomenal weekend with a 2-run blast off the scoreboard in right field.
In the third, Jacob Humphrey doubled to left center on a 1-1 pitch from Phillips. After he stole third, Rigdon grounded out to short, scoring Humphrey and tying the game up at 2. Tennessee went by quietly in the bottom half of the inning.
Riley Nelson led off the fourth with a single through the right side and trotted all the way home when Braden Holcomb smashed a ball to the flag poles in right-center field. Mike Mancini knocked Phillips out of the game with an RBI single, ending his day.
Phillips went 3.2 innings pitched, giving up 5 hits, 5 earned, with 5 strikeouts on only 73 pitches.
In the fifth, Holcomb added another RBI to the ledger with a single to right, making it 6-2 Vandy.
It wasn’t until the fifth inning that the Big Orange started to fight back. Gavin Kilen doubled off the center field wall, and Hunter Ensley drew a 2-out walk, ending Vanderbilt starter Cody Bowker’s night in the fifth.
Dalton Bargo worked an impressive at-bat, after being down 0-2, and singled up the middle, driving in Kilen and advancing Ensley to third. Bargo touched on what he was looking for in that particular at-bat, and why he thought the Vanderbilt pitchers were tough: “Driving in a run was a plus there. But, you know, the guys that they threw today were pretty good.”
Dean Curley followed with a single of his own, trimming Vandy’s lead to 6-4 in the fifth.
The wheels fell off in the sixth inning for the Vols.
Austin Breedlove relieved Brandon Arvidson of his duties after a 5-pitch walk, then threw the ball away on a failed pickoff attempt. After Humphrey singled to center, it was Dylan Loy’s turn. He gave up a walk and a stolen base, and the Commodores had the bases loaded in a spot where the Vols desperately needed a shutdown inning.
Vitello made yet another change, this time, AJ Russell. Russell’s very first pitch was rocketed to left for a single, scoring 2 runs, courtesy of RJ Austin. Two pitches later, Nelson singled to right field, scoring another.
Johnston then hit a double-play ball to short, but Curley’s throw was wide of first, allowing Austin to score from second on the throwing error.
Russell finally got Holcomb to strike out, but the damage had been done. Vandy scored 4 in the sixth to take a commanding 10-4 lead.
Kilen and Fischer each homered in the seventh inning, but the lead was too insurmountable and the Volunteers fell 10-6. “The inning got extended because of mistakes,” said coach Vitello on the sixth inning. “We had some guys not throw as well as their capable of… but we could have tuned the fourth inning to a 2-run inning by getting over to cover [first] base. And then the sixth inning by turning a double play.”
Tennessee will have another rubber game tomorrow. They are 1-4 in series finale games over their last 5, so they certainly have their work cut out for them.
“I think you better be ready for more of the same… Better be able to take blows and give blows.” – Coach Vitello on what’s ahead for the Vols.
As for Sunday’s series finale, with AJ Russell pitching on Saturday, Vitello says Tegan Kuhns is “more than likely” to start on Sunday.
“Like all Sunday’s it’s going to be a team effort… We need contributions from everybody, whether it’s a hit by pitch or just a two-strike battle or whatever… we had too many blank spots.”
The final regular season game from Lindsey Nelson Stadium is scheduled for a 3 PM start, even with some rain in the forecast for Sunday.