The Tennessee Volunteers got off to a hot start in SEC play on Friday.
In the first of a three-game series, the Vols took down the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, winning 7-4. The Vols received timely hitting and solid pitching, and it seemed like a good weekend was in store.
Unfortunately, Saturday went differently. The Vols had seven hits on the day, but turned those into just two runs. As a result, the Bulldogs won the second matchup 4-2, setting up an important rubber match on Sunday.
The rubber match couldn’t have started any better for the Vols. Reese Chapman got the Vols on the board in the first with a two-run double. Manny Marin then came up and hit a single, scoring Chapman, and giving the Vols a 3-0 lead before the Bulldogs even came up to bat.
There were no more runs from either team until the top of the third inning. Henry Ford hit a two-run opposite-field bomb to extend the Vols’ lead to 5-0. The Bulldogs would add three runs of their own, and Marin drove in another run to make it a 6-3 Tennessee lead heading into the bottom of the 7th.
The bottom of the 7th turned into a disaster for the Vols. The team went from having a three-run lead to being in a two-run deficit after an offensive explosion from the Vols.
The Vols fought back, and a Blake Grimmer homer made it a one-run game. However, Georgia’s Justin Byrd was able to get the final out, securing his second save of the season and a series win for the Bulldogs.
This one will be extremely frustrating to deal with. The Vols had the series win within their grasp, but some great defensive plays from Georgia and timely hitting will end up being the difference.
It’s disappointing to begin conference play with a series loss, but it’s far from panic time. As Elander said after the game, the difference in this series was “one swing of the bat and a couple of defensive plays.”
Now, the Vols will have a midweek game against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels before preparing for their SEC home opener with Missouri next weekend.
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