By Stephen Mason
After Friday night’s poor showing, it seemed like the only direction the Vols could go was up; however, they found there was a lower floor in Saturday’s 12-2 run-rule loss to the Wildcats.
In game two of a critical SEC series, the No. 24 Tennessee Volunteers (30-17, 10-13 SEC) were dominated by the Kentucky Wildcats (29-15, 11-12 SEC), who won their first series since sweeping Alabama in the opening weekend of SEC play. Nothing the Vols did badly in game one got better.
If anything, it got worse.
“A lot went wrong again. Not a good approach by our guys, swinging at too many pitches out of the strike zone,” head coach Josh Elander said. “Slow start offensively, and the pen was not good, period. Didn’t throw strikes, hit batters, walks, and then barrels over the plate.”
To call Tennessee’s offense inconsistent at this point in the season would almost be an understatement. After nearly scoring 30 runs off the Alabama pitching staff last weekend, the Vols have barely eked out four runs in Lexington this weekend.
The Vols went down in order in the first three innings of this game as Kentucky pitcher Jaxon Jelkin could do no wrong in an outstanding performance for the Wildcats. Jelkin pitched all eight innings, striking out 11 Volunteers while only giving up two runs on four hits.
It took until the fifth inning for Tennessee to score its first run off a double by Reese Chapman. This was followed up in the sixth inning by a solo home run by Blaine Brown. In the middle of the sixth, the score was 4-2 Wildcats, and the Vols still looked like they had a chance to make the comeback. However, this was when the wheels came off the pitching wagon.
Evan Blanco made the start on the mound for the Vols and had a very rocky outing. In the five innings he pitched, he gave up six runs on six hits while striking out five batters. In the sixth inning, with runners on the corners and no outs, he turned the ball over to Brayden Krenzel.
This was when it started to go very wrong for Tennessee. Krenzel loaded the bases by walking the first Wildcat he faced, and then proceeded to drive in a run by hitting the next man.
“He just needs to go out there and compete. His stuff is plenty good enough, but just wasn’t good today,” Elander said.
After these two at-bats, Ethan Baiotto entered the game to try to clean up the mess; however, the Wildcats were able to score four runs off him in the process. Three more pitchers entered the game for Tennessee, and all struggled to find a rhythm.
“We need to compete down in the zone a bit better… If you don’t keep the ball in the ballpark and don’t throw strikes, you’re not going to have a chance to win,” Elander said.
When the Wildcats plated their 12th run in the bottom of the eighth, sealing the victory, it seemed like all the air had been taken out of the Volunteers’ tires as they limped off the field. In the time of year when a team should be peaking, the team dropped what will probably be its easiest remaining SEC series.
“I just think we’ve gotten beaten badly twice in a row. So at this point, there needs to be more sense of urgency and a little bit more pride,” Elander said. “A very, very frustrating day all around, especially after the performance last night… we need to throw this game into the trash and try and salvage the weekend tomorrow.”
Up Next: Tennessee will conclude its series against Kentucky on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET Landon Mack will make the start for the Vols, with freshman Cam Appenzeller primed and ready to go in the bullpen.