No. 23 Tennessee Drops Series Opener at No. 4 Vanderbilt, 4-2

Friday, March 29

Nashville

7:30 P.M. ET

University of Tennessee

20-7, 0

#4 Vanderbilt

21-5, 0

Tennessee

Vanderbilt

Photo by: Kelly Gerdin/Tennessee Athletics

No. 23 Tennessee Drops Series Opener at No. 4 Vanderbilt, 4-2

March 29, 2019 | Baseball

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 23 Tennessee dropped game one of its weekend series against fourth-ranked Vanderbilt, 4-2, on Friday night at Hawkins Field in Nashville.

Two runs in the bottom of the sixth were the difference as the Commodores broke a 2-2 tie and held on for the win in the series opener.

Garrett Stallings (5-2) suffered just his second loss of the season after allowing three earned runs on five hits while striking out four. The junior right hander walked a career-high four batters on the night.

Jay Charleston was the only Volunteer to have multiple hits in the game, finishing the night 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Five other UT players recorded hits as well, but Vanderbilt starter Drake Fellows did well to work out of a couple of jams to improve to 6-0 on the season. The junior right hander allowed two runs in six innings of work, struck out four and walked a pair.

The Vols didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard as Justin Ammons led off the night with his third home run of the season to put UT ahead 1-0.

A leadoff home run by Ty Duvall in the third tied the game at one. The Commodores pulled ahead with another leadoff homer in the bottom of the fourth by JJ Bleday after the Vols missed out on a golden opportunity to take the lead in the top of the inning, failing to score with the bases loaded and just one out.

Tennessee clawed back to tie the game at three in the top of the sixth on an RBI ground out from Landon Gray. Evan Russell scored from third on the play after reaching on a single earlier in the inning.

Vanderbilt jumped right back in front with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to retake the lead, 4-2. Jayson Gonzalez singled to right field to make it 3-2 before Bleday drove in his second run of the game on a bases-loaded walk issued by Vols' reliever Andrew Schultz. Junior lefty Will Heflin came on to strike out Stephen Scott to get UT out of the inning and limit the damage.

Heflin was solid in relief for the Vols, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts to keep the Big Orange within striking distance.

The Vols brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth after a leadoff walk by Gray, but they were unable to do anything after that as Commodores' closer Tyler Brown retired the next three batters to finish off his sixth save of the year.

NOTABLE
STARTING WITH A BANG: Tennessee junior outfielder Justin Ammons started Friday night's game with a bang, launching a leadoff home run over the wall in right-center field to put the Vols ahead 1-0. Ammons homer marked the first time a UT player has led off a game with a home run since Jeff Moberg did it in against Missouri on May 20, 2017.

HEFLIN HOLDS IT DOWN IN RELIEF: Junior lefty Will Heflin was solid out of the bullpen on Friday night, tossing 2.1 shutout innings while allowing just two hits and striking out three batters. The Morristown, Tenn., native struck out Commodores' cleanup hitter Stephen Scott to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth and went on to finish the game for the Vols.

UP NEXT: Tomorrow's game between the Vols and Commodores will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET after originally being scheduled for a 9 p.m. ET start. Heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected tomorrow evening in Nashville. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+ and the WatchESPN app and be shown on tape day on the SEC Network at 9 p.m. ET.