UT Held Off by Bulldogs in Series Finale, 7-4

Sunday, March 26

Starkville, MS

2:30 PM

University of Tennessee

13-8, 0

Mississippi State

15-10, 0

Tennessee

Mississippi State

March 26, 2017 | Baseball

Box Score

March 26, 2017

Box Score

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- In the series finale at Dudy Noble Field, Mississippi State used a four-run first inning to pull ahead and hold off the Tennessee Volunteers for a 7-4 win on Sunday afternoon.

With the loss, the Volunteers (13-8, 0-6 SEC) move to 29-58 in the overall series against Mississippi State (15-10, 3-3 SEC).

Jeff Moberg (2-for-3), Jordan Rodgers (2-for-3) and Andre Lipcius (2-for-4) each had two hits for Tennessee while three other Vols tallied one hit apiece.

Tennessee struck early in the series finale, plating one run in the first frame. Moberg singled to right and advanced to second on a hit to left-center field by Rodgers before taking third on a groundout to short. Lipcius then singled up the middle, scoring Moberg to put the Vols up, 1-0.

The Bulldogs answered in the bottom of the inning, scratching four runs across to take a 4-1 advantage.

In the first at-bat of the second frame, Dom Thornton hit his second home run of the series over the left-center field wall, trimming Mississippi State's lead, 4-2.

The Vols put another run on the board in the third as Rodgers scored on the second RBI-single of the game by Lipcius to pull within one run of Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs then used three hits in the fourth inning and two in the sixth to tack on three runs and take a 7-3 lead. Tennessee responded with a sacrifice fly from Moberg to score outfielder Justin Ammons from third and cut the deficit to 7-4 in the seventh, where the score would hold through the ninth.

Leftty Zach Warren was charged with the loss for UT. He allowed six runs on 11 hits, issuing one walk and striking out one batter over 4.0 innings of work in the start. The Vols later called upon Will Neely (1.1), Kyle Serrano (1.0) and Garrett Stallings (1.2) in relief.

TENNESSEE QUICK HITS

FRESHMAN PHENOM: Andre Lipcius extended his team high streak of reaching base safely to 21 straight games. Lipcius has now reached safely in every game to begin his Tennessee career. The first baseman also owns a 10-game hit streak, dating back to the second game of the Cincinnati series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium (March 11).
BOMBIN' DOM: Dom Thornton hit his second career home run (also his second of the series) in the second inning of Sunday's matchup with Mississippi State. His first longball came on the first pitch offered in his fourth-inning at-bat against the Bulldogs on Friday, March 24.
MORE ON MOBERG: Jeff Moberg leads the Vols with 10 multi-hit games this season while Andre Lipcius has now recorded at least one hit in every SEC game this year.
REACHING SAFELY: Jordan Rodgers (20), Pete Derkay (15), Jeff Moberg (14) and Max Bartlett (10) extended their streaks of reaching base safely for the Vols following their efforts on Sunday.
CAREER FIRSTS: Freshman Justin Ammons drew his first career start as leadoff hitter for Tennessee on Sunday. Fellow freshman Brandon Chinea made his first career start in left field for the Vols.
ON DECK FOR THE VOLS: Tennessee returns to Lindsey Nelson Stadium for a midweek matchup against Tennessee Tech on Tuesday, March 28. The game is slated for a 6:00 p.m. ET start.
Sunday's attendance at Dudy Noble Field: 7,395