KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 21/22 Tennessee lost its SEC home opener to Missouri, 8-4, on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Volunteers (15-7, 1-3 SEC) tried to battle back after digging themselves an early hole, but struggled to string together clutch hits, leaving 11 runners on base for the night.
The Tigers (16-6, 1-3 SEC) tagged UT starter Tegan Kuhns for three runs in the top of the third to jump out to a 3-0 lead before Stone Lawless got the Big Orange on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Lawless was one of eight different Vols to record a hit on the night, finishing 2-for-4 after adding a double later in the game.
A two-run RBI single by Blaize Ward capped a two-out rally and extended Missouri’s lead to four in the top of the fifth, but Tennessee responded again in the bottom of the sixth with two runs of its own on a Jay Abernathy RBI groundout and a Tyler Myatt pinch-hit RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-3.
The Tigers quickly ended UT’s momentum, however, when Keegan Knutson crushed a three-run homer into the porches off of reliever Brandon Arvidson in the seventh inning to build their lead back up to five.
Aside from the homer, Arvidson pitched well, finishing with five strikeouts while pitching the final four innings for the Vols.
Blaine Brown hit his seventh homer of the year to lead off the bottom of the seventh but that was the final time Tennessee would score on the night.
UT didn’t go down easily in the ninth, as it loaded the bases with walks from Brown, Blake Grimmer and Reese Chapman before Mizzou reliever Sam Rosand came on to record the final out of the game and earn his second save of the season.
UP NEXT: The Vols will look to rebound and even the weekend series on Saturday night with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.
