ATHENS, Ga. – No. 19/19 Tennessee battled back from an early deficit in the middle innings, but had its comeback bid come up just short in a 4-2 loss to No. 6/8 Georgia on Saturday evening at Foley Field.
For the second straight day, the Vols’ pitching staff limited the high-powered Bulldogs’ (16-4, 1-1 SEC) offense to just four runs, but the bats were unable to generate enough pressure against UGA’s bullpen duo of Paul Farley and Caden Aoki, who combined for 4.1 shutout innings of relief.
UT (14-5, 1-1 SEC) found itself in an early 3-0 hole after a pair of Georgia home runs in the second and third innings by Michael O’Shaughnessy and Ryan Black.
Blaine Brown got the Vols on the board with a no-doubt solo shot to right field in the fourth before Garrett Wright pulled the Big Orange within a run with a two-out RBI double in the fifth to plate Manny Marin, who had another productive day at the plate with two hits.
Tennessee starter Landon Mack battled throughout his outing, totaling four strikeout while allowing four runs on nine hits and four walks over 5.1 innings while having to deal with traffic on the bases in each frame.
Freshman left-hander Cam Appenzeller entered with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth and did well to limit the damage to just a single run and keep the Big Orange within striking distance. He finished the game on the mound, tossing 2.2 scoreless frames with a pair of strikeouts.
The Vols had a great chance to tie the game in the top of the eighth with runners on second and third and only one out after a leadoff walk by Brown and a double by Blake Grimmer, but a check-swing strikeout and loud flyout to center field ended the threat as Aoki was able to wiggle out of the jam and preserve the Bulldogs’ 4-2 lead.
Aoki went on to retire the side in order in the top of the ninth to secure his second save of the season with Farley picking up his second win of the year despite recording just one out.
UP NEXT: The Vols and Dawgs will square off in a decisive Sunday rubber game with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. in Athens. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
