University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Ole Miss
Vols Win 4-2, Take Series at Ole Miss
April 05, 2015 | Baseball
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Tennessee Volunteers claimed their first series win of the season in SEC play, battling to take a 4-2 victory in the series finale against Ole Miss on Sunday at Oxford-University Stadium.
Tennessee improves to 14-14 with the win and is now 4-8 in SEC competition this year, as Ole Miss (16-16) moves to 5-7 in conference play.
"I'm very proud of this team. We talked when we practiced here Thursday night about the feeling we would have Sunday afternoon," Head Coach Dave Serrano said. "It didn't go our way Friday night but they kept fighting. I'll go on record as saying this was probably the biggest game of the year for us. It was a pivotal game for us and I could see a different look in our guys' faces. They are starting to feel good about themselves and I've always felt good about them. What's most important is them feeling good about themselves.
"IT's never too late and if we can start playing our best baseball now, I wouldn't have it any other way. We've gone through a lot but all we have to do is play for ourselves and play for each other. We stick together through the hard times."
Lefthander Drake Owenby (2-3) dealt 8.0 strong innings in his Sunday start for the Volunteers, allowing just two runs on four hits while striking out six batters to earn the win.
For the third game in a row, junior Christin Stewart put the Volunteers on the boards with an RBI-single to right field. Second baseman Nick Senzel, who drew a leadoff walk to begin the Sunday contest, scored from second on the base hit to make it a 1-0 Tennessee lead.
The Vols came back and plated two more runs in the second, when Senzel roped a two-RBI single to left field and scored third baseman Jared Pruett (2-for-4, RBI) and designated hitter Nathaniel Maggio (1-for-3).
Ole Miss pushed one run across in the third to make it a 3-1 ballgame. The Vols battled back again in the sixth, as Stewart reached first via leadoff walk and moved to third on a base hit by Maggio. With two outs, Pruett then ripped an RBI-single into right-center field to score Stewart to give Tennessee a 4-1 advantage.
The Rebels threatened again in the seventh, loading the bases and scoring one run to narrow Tennessee's lead to 4-2. But Owenby kept dealing to record back-to-back strikeouts with runners in scoring position to get out of the inning.
In the ninth, closer Andrew Lee retired his three batters faced to preserve the lead and give UT the win, striking out two Ole Miss Rebels.
"We really put it together this weekend and I think that's a huge thing for us," Owenby said. "It was a huge momentum booster for us as a team.
Stay tuned for more information coming soon to UTSports.com.
