No. 18 Vols Come Out on Losing End of Wild Series Opener at No. 6 Arkansas

Friday, April 26

Fayetteville, AR

7:30 P.M. ET

University of Tennessee

31-12, 9-10

#6 Arkansas

32-11, 13-6

Tennessee

Arkansas

No. 18 Vols Come Out on Losing End of Wild Series Opener at No. 6 Arkansas

April 27, 2019 | Baseball

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 18 Tennessee came out on the wrong end of a wild game against No. 6 Arkansas in Friday night's series opener at Baum-Walker Stadium.

A four-run sixth inning for the Razorbacks proved to be the difference as the Hogs held on for an 11-9 victory in front of a capacity crowd on 11,787, the fourth-largest crowd in the history of Baum Stadium.

All nine starters reached base for the Volunteers and eight had base hits on the night, but UT's usually stout pitching and defense had an uncharacteristically tough night against a dangerous Arkansas lineup.

Evan Russell, Andre Lipcius, Pete Derkay and Jake Rucker all had multi-hit games and combined to drive in eight of the team's nine runs. The Big Orange scored all nine of their runs with two outs but were unable to protect a pair of three runs leads.

Sophomore left hander Garrett Crochet got the start and struggled early on but was able to escape the first inning allowing just one run despite giving up two hits and a walk. Unfortunately, the Razorbacks were able to tag Crochet for three runs in the third and fifth innings as well. The Mississippi native exited the game after allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and four walks in 4.2 innings. Crochet did finish his night with seven strikeouts as well.

Lipcius continued his hot hitting with a no-doubt solo homer run in the top of the first to put the Vols ahead 1-0 early on. It was the 11^th long ball of the season for the junior and his 42^nd run batted in, tying his career high.

The Razorbacks took advantage of a rocky start to the game by Crochet, tying the game at one with an RBI single from Matt Goodheart. Crochet gave up a leadoff single to start the game before walking Casey Martin to put two runners on with no outs. The junior lefty did well to rebound, retiring the next three batters following Goodheart's single to limit the damage to one run.

UT took advance of three hits and two Razorbacks' errors in the top of the third to take a 4-1 lead. Russell singled with the bases loaded to plate two runs and two errors by Arkansas' left fielder Christian Franklin allowed Alerick Soularie to score all the way from first on the play.

Arkansas answered with a three-spot of its own in the bottom of the third to tie the game once again. Dominic Fletcher and Casey Opitz both had RBI singles while Jacob Nesbit also dove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Nesbit finished 3-for-3 with a game-high six runs batted in.

After a scoreless fourth inning for both teams, the fireworks continued in the fifth as Tennessee scored three more runs to take a 7-4 lead and chase starter Isaiah Campbell from the game. It was the shortest outing of the season for the Razorbacks' ace as he allowed a season-high seven runs on six hits, but just three were earned due to three errors by the Hogs.

After Fletcher made an incredible diving catch in right center field to rob Soularie of extra bases, the Razorbacks' center field lost a high fly ball off the bat of Russell in the lights, resulting in a two-run single for the Vols' sophomore designated hitter. Derkay singled one batter later to drive in Russell from second and give the Big Orange their second three-run lead of the night.

That lead didn't last long, however, as Arkansas had another answer in the bottom of the fifth, tying the game at seven with a three-run homer from Nesbit. The homer followed what should have been an inning-ending double play, but Rucker was unable to field the ball cleanly at second and everyone was safe on the play.

The Hogs rode their momentum to another big inning in the sixth, scoring four runs to take an 11-7 lead into the seventh inning. Three different players had RBI hits in the inning, including a solo home run by Trevor Ezell to lead off the inning and a two-run double by Nesbit to cap the scoring in the inning.

The Vols clawed back to cut the deficit to two in the top of the seventh, scoring two runs on four hits. Derkay and Rucker had the two RBI base knocks in the frame for the Big Orange. UT had a chance to tie the game with another hit but stranded runners on second and third to end the inning.

Jacob Kostyshock and Matt Cronin held the Vols without a hit over the final two innings to close the door. Relieve Kevin Kopps got the win to improve to 4-3 while Cronin earned his ninth save of the year.

Andrew Schultz came out on the losing end, falling to 2-1 on the year after allowing four runs on four hits in an inning of work.

NOTABLE
UNCHARACTERISTIC MISCUES COST VOLS: Friday's game was definitely an outlier for Tennessee, allowing a season high in runs and hits while also committing a pair of errors. It was just the eighth time in 43 games this season that the Vols have committed two or more errors in a game.

TWO-OUT HITTING: Despite the loss, the Big Orange were phenomenal hitting with two outs for the game. UT scored all nine of its runs with two outs and finished the night 8-for-17 at the plate when batting with two outs. UT was also 8-for-19 with runners on base and 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

CAREER NIGHT FOR RUSSELL: Evan Russell was one of the many bright spots offensively for the Vols, recording a pair of hits while setting a new career high with four runs batted in.

UP NEXT: Tennessee will look to even the series tomorrow night in game two, which is set for 7:30 p.m. ET first pitch. The game will be streamed online via SEC Network+ and the WatchESPN app. Fans can also listen live as John Wilkerson call the action for the Vol Radio Network (FM 99.1/AM 990).