By Abby Doperak
Tennessee dropped a 3-2 extra-inning battle to Vanderbilt on Friday night in Nashville.
Tennessee traveled to Nashville for a weekend series against Vanderbilt after defeating USC Upstate 4-2 on Tuesday at home. Vanderbilt entered the matchup following a 15-5 win on Tuesday against Tennessee Tech.
Brandon Arvidson started on the mound for Tennessee, facing Vanderbilt’s Connor Fennell. The first inning was 1-2-3 for both sides.
The Volunteers let their defense shine in the second inning when they caught Commodore Logan Johnstone attempting to steal second, ending the inning.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third, when Ryker Waite doubled and, after two walks, Vanderbilt scored the first run. The Commodores extended their lead in the fifth inning when Korbin Reynolds hit a home run to make it 2-0.
Tennessee responded in the sixth. Blake Grimmer doubled, followed by a single from Henry Ford that advanced Grimmer to third. Ford was caught trying to steal second, allowing Grimmer to steal home and cut the deficit to 2-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, Tennessee made its first pitching change, bringing in Tegan Kuhns for Arvidson, who held the score at 2-1.
Vanderbilt made its first pitching change in the top of the eighth, as Luke Guth relieved Fennell. Guth struggled, and Levi Clarks’s single drove in Manny Marin to tie the game at 2-2. Vanderbilt made another change in the inning, replacing Guth with Brennan Seiber after nine pitches.
The game remained tied entering extra innings. Tennessee was unable to generate offensively in the 10th. The Volunteers brought in Bo Rhudy for Kuhns. Rhudy hit Colin Barczi with a pitch, and Cade Sears entered as a pinch runner. With two outs, Johnstone singled to score Sears, giving Vanderbilt a 3-2 win.
“When I am coaching third base, and there are balls flying by me all night, that’s not a good sign,” Tennessee head coach Josh Elander said. “They need to be better, period. It hasn’t been a good week for us offensively.”
Tennessee finished with five hits and a .161 batting average, compared with Vanderbilt’s 10 hits and .270 average.
“We had plenty opportunities to drive in runs early in the game, middle of the game, late in the game, and did some things well,” Elander said. “But just not good enough offensively to give us a chance to win a game on Friday night on the road in the SEC.”
The teams will meet again Saturday, with the first pitch set for 2 p.m. ET.