KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A dominant relief outing from freshman Cam Appenzeller and some timely situational hitting led No. 21/22 Tennessee to a much-needed 4-2 victory over Missouri in front of a lively crowd on Saturday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The talented left-hander tossed 4.2 shutout innings in relief of starter Landon Mack, allowing just two hits while striking out a career-high seven batters to earn the win and improve to 3-0 on the year.
After the start of the game was delayed by an hour due to lightning in the area, it was the Tigers who struck first for the second straight day, plating a pair of runs in the top of the second inning to take an early 2-0 advantage.
The Vols answered back immediately with a run in the bottom of the inning when freshman Trent Grindlinger bounced a 2-2 pitch through the right side of the infield for a two-out RBI single, which started a run of four consecutive UT runs.
An RBI groundout from Manny Marin in the bottom of the third tied the game at two before Levi Clark put the Big Orange in front with a sacrifice fly to deep center field in the fourth, which turned out to be the game-deciding run.
Missouri looked like it would tie or retake the lead in the top of the fifth when it loaded the bases with nobody out to end Mack’s day on the mound. However, Appenzeller had other thoughts as struck out Kam Durnin and Blaize Ward before getting Keegan Knutson to pop up to shortstop to escape the jam unscathed.
Garrett Wright came around to score on a wild pitch in the sixth inning to extend Tennessee’s lead to 4-2 after reaching base with a one-out double before advancing to third on a groundout by Stone Lawless.
Appenzeller struck out the first two batters in the top of the ninth, but the next two Tigers reached base to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Head coach Josh Elander called on Bo Rhudy to record the game’s final out, and the junior right-hander got the job done by getting Pierre Seals to ground out to shortstop to end the threat and earn his first save of the year.
UP NEXT: The Vols and Tigers will square off in a rubber game on Sunday afternoon with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. Senior lefty Evan Blanco will get the start on the mound for UT while left-hander Brady Kehlenbrink will start for Mizzou.
