The Tennessee baseball team had been 11-0 in midweek games until Tuesday’s matchup with Lipscomb, when the offense failed to hit a home run for the third-straight game, and the Vols’ battery of typical midweek pitchers gave up four solo home runs and five of the six throwers surrendered at least one run in the 9-5 loss.
Dylan Loy started and held Lipscomb to just one run in his 2 IP while allowing three hits and striking out two. He got some help from Cal Stark, who just continues to be an absolute weapon behind the plate, when Loy struck out the batter and Stark threw out a runner heading to second for an inning-ending double play in the first.
Little strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play to end the top of the first!
https://t.co/kPc6cjVBSO (SECN+)#GBO // #OTH // #BeatLipscomb pic.twitter.com/4oBVXFUiOS
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) April 30, 2024
But in the third inning, Marcus Phillips, who’d shown some recent promise as a possible addition to the weekend bullpen group, gave up a double, a home run, three hits, three earned runs and one walk while tying the team-high for strikeouts with four. He pitched the third and the fourth, giving Lipscomb the lead back after the offense came out of the gates with two runs in each of the first two innings.
In the B1, Christian Moore got hit by a pitch, Blake Burke earned a full-count walk and Billy Amick singled to load the bases. Dylan Dreiling singled in the Vols’ first run, and Dean Curley hit into a double play that allowed another run to cross. Reese Chapman flew out to end the frame with a runner stranded on base.
In the UT half of the second inning, Colby Backus, who got a start in the outfield, hit the first pitch he saw into left for a double. Dalton Bargo earned a four-pitch walk, and Burke brought both men home with his 21st double of the season, which slots him in at a tie for second nationally.
Blake’s 21st double of the year drives in a pair!
https://t.co/kPc6cjVBSO (SECN+)#GBO // #OTH // #BeatLipscomb pic.twitter.com/lRF9u1pARG
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) April 30, 2024
The offense went the next four innings without scoring a run, managing a base runner in each half inning but not bringing them around to score.
While the Tennessee offense lagged, Lipscomb popped off for five runs in innings 4-6. Andrew Behnke gave up two solo home runs in his 1.1 IP after Phillips exited, then after Behnke’s exit in the T6, JJ Garcia gave up another solo shot before the half inning finished.
Lipscomb tagged on two more runs in the eighth, and UT attempted to battle back, with a run in the B7 and a run in the B9, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit.
Burke and Amick were the only two Vols with more than one hit, and that duo plus Dreiling and Curley accounted for all of the team’s runs scored.
Here are the rest of the stat lines for the pitchers the Vols threw other than Loy and Phillips:
Behnke got tagged with the loss. 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K
JJ Garcia: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Matthew Dallas: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 4 K
Nate Snead: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Midweek game losses happen — it’s obviously difficult for the guys on the team to be dialed in for every game of the year, four times a week.
Florida will be in Knoxville for the weekend series, and the Vols are second nationally in runs scored while the Gators aren’t in the top 50. UF is 23-21 on the season and just 9-12 in SEC play. Obviously Jac Caglianone presents a problem with his 26 home runs, but his numbers as a pitcher aren’t that hot this year with a 4.10 ERA and at least three walks surrendered in eight of his 10 appearances.
Game one is scheduled for Thursday night at 6:30 PM EST.