Tennessee holds on for big game one win over Arkansas, 10-7

The Volunteers had all the answers tonight in Fayetteville.

Tennessee entered the final weekend of the regular season needing a series win to solidify their chance of hosting a regional series in the NCAA Tournament. A series loss to Arkansas on the road would essentially be the nail in the coffin of those hopes, as the Volunteers have dropped five of their last six series in conference play.

Thursday night was just what the doctor ordered — clutch hitting, power and a really solid night from Marcus Phillips on the mound.

A Dalton Bargo homerun had Tennessee off and running early on in Fayetteville, but that advantage didn’t hold for very long.

Tennessee starting pitcher Marcus Phillips, starting in place of typical game one starter Liam Doyle, found trouble in the second inning. Tennessee’s No. 2 starter found himself in a jam — bases loaded and just one out. Phillips would come up with a strikeout for the second out, but he wasn’t so lucky with the next batter. Leadoff man Charles Davalan was down to his final strike, but he delivered a shot down the first base line. Arkansas would score two before getting thrown out at the plate trying to score another.

Tennessee found themselves down 2-1 after two innings.

Manny Marin and Andrew Fischer came up with a couple of hits to place runners at the corners in the top of the third, but Hunter Ensley couldn’t do anything with it. The Tennessee senior grounded into a double play to end the threat.

Tennessee put two more baserunners on in the top of the fourth, then Levi Clark walked to load the bases. Marin delivered with a shot off the glove of the shortstop, scoring two runs. It was a full count with all runners in motion, which paid off in a big way. Gavin Kilen hit a rope right over the first baseman to score another.

The Volunteers finally found some two-out production, chasing Arkansas starter Zach Root after just 3.2 innings of work.

Arkansas would stay quiet until the bottom of the fifth. Phillips was oh-so-close to getting out of the inning, but Logan Maxwell laid down a perfect bunt to beat the shift for a single. Kuhio Aloy ripped a double down the third base line, and Reese Chapman struggled to come up with it. Maxwell would score all the way from first to cut the Tennessee lead down to 4-3. Tony Vitello turned to Dylan Loy and then AJ Russell on the mound, and the duo danced out of trouble to preserve Tennessee’s one-run lead.

Russell would take Tennessee into the seventh where Dalton Bargo blew this one open. With Hunter Ensley standing on second base, Bargo hit his second home run of the night to push Tennessee’s lead out to 6-3.

Dean Curley sent another one out in the next at bat to make it 7-3.

Arkansas would get to Russell in the bottom of the seventh, however. Arkansas loaded the bases with two outs with a chance to get back in this one. Vitello went to Tanner Franklin on the mound, who immediately got the out Tennessee needed. Crisis averted, and the Vols held a four-run advantage entering the eighth.

The Razorbacks were back at it in the eighth, but this time cashed in. Nate Snead would end up giving up three runs in a wild inning, powered by a Wehiwa Aloy single to plate two. Snead gave up four hits and three earned runs in total as Arkansas slashed the lead back to 7-6.

Every time the Hogs got close, Tennessee had an instant answer. This time it was Cannon Peebles smacking a two-run homerun out to left to make it a 9-6 game. Jay Abernathy, pinch running, would score on an error to make it 10-6.

Arkansas would add one in the ninth, but that’s all they had left in the tank.

Final score: Tennessee 10, Arkansas 7

Marcus Phillips went 4.1 innings, giving up three runs but making some big pitches when it mattered the most. AJ Russell turned in a nice two innings of work and Tennessee was able to survive a rough outing from Nate Snead to close it.

Tennessee now has the luxury of turning to their ace in game two on Friday, set to send Liam Doyle to the mound. A strong showing from Doyle could give Tennessee a timely series win, perhaps sparking some momentum looking ahead to next week’s SEC Tournament in Hoover.

Tennessee and Arkansas are back from Fayetteville on Friday night for game two. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Streaming is available via ESPN+/SEC Network+.