University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
37-18, 0
Oklahoma
31-20, 0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
#24 Vols Down #20 Sooners, 9-4, to Secure Fifth SEC Series Win
May 16, 2026 | Baseball
The contest was suspended due to inclement weather with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday night and resumed at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday with the Volunteers leading 5-3.
Redshirt junior reliever Brandon Arvidson took over on the mound after the restart and quickly got two outs to send the game into the eighth, where the Vols manufactured a pair of runs on back-to-back sacrifice flies from Blaine Brown and Manny Marin to increase the lead to 7-3.
Arvidson gave up a run in the bottom of the eighth but finished the game to record his third save of the year, allowing just the one run on three hits.
The Vols (37-18, 15-15 SEC) added two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth for good measure as Trent Grindlinger and Reese Chapman both cashed in with a pair of two-out RBI hits to make it 9-4 Tennessee.
Friday's game started very similarly to Thursday's series opener with the Sooners (31-20, 13-16 SEC) racing out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning. A two-run homer from Camden Johnson opened the scoring before a third run scored on a double play ball to give OU a 3-0 advantage heading into the second.
Senior lefty Evan Blanco settled in nicely after the rocky first inning, tossing up five straight scoreless frames to get the Vols into the seventh inning with a lead.
Blanco struck out the side in the fifth and worked out of a bases-loaded jam to end the sixth by getting Kyle Branch to ground out to third base to end the threat. The Massachusetts native finished with six strikeouts while allowing five hits, including just two over his final five innings of work.
Just like game one, UT rallied to take the lead with a four-run third inning. Marin laced a triple to the wall in left-center field to score Brown from first for UT's first run of the night. Jay Abernathy followed with an RBI infield single and eventually came around to score on a two-run single from Grindlinger to put Tennessee ahead 4-3 with two outs.
Grimmer scored again in the fifth inning, racing all the way home from first on a hard-hit ground ball from Henry Ford that went right between Johnson's legs at third base.
Grindlinger and Marin led the Big Orange at the plate with two hits apiece and a combined five runs batted in.
UP NEXT: The Vols and Sooners get right back at it for the third and final game of this weekend's series with first pitch slated for 3:30 p.m. ET.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Blanco, Evan (7-3)
L: Mercurius, Xander (0-1)
S: Arvidson, Brandon (3)
Batting:
2B: Ford, Henry 1 ; Chapman, Reese 1 ; Clark, Levi 1 ; Marin, Manny 1
3B: Marin, Manny 1
RBI: Grindlinger, Trent 3 ; Chapman, Reese 1 ; Brown, Blaine 1 ; Marin, Manny 2 ; Abernathy, Jay 1
SF: Brown, Blaine 1 ; Marin, Manny 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Grimmer, Blake 2 ; Ford, Henry 1 ; Grindlinger, Trent 1 ; Chapman, Reese 1 ; Clark, Levi 1 ; Brown, Blaine 1 ; Marin, Manny 1 ; Abernathy, Jay 1
SB: Grindlinger, Trent 1 ; Abernathy, Jay 1
CS: Wright, Garrett 1
HBP: Wright, Garrett 1 ; Clark, Levi 1
Batting:
2B: Brock, Brendan 1
3B: Harris, Dasan 1
HR: Johnson, Camden 1
RBI: Johnson, Camden 2 ; Harris, Dasan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Walk, Jason 1 ; Johnson, Camden 1 ; LaChance, Deiten 1 ; Brock, Brendan 1
HBP: Johnson, Camden 1
