NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 20/21 Tennessee dropped a marathon game against rival Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon, falling by a score of 6-5 in 16 innings at Hawkins Field, marking the longest contest in UT baseball history.
Aside from a five-run outburst in the sixth inning to tie the game, hits and runs were extremely hard to come by for the Volunteers (18-9, 3-5 SEC), as they were held to just five hits and scored no runs in each of the other 15 innings in which they came to the plate.
Despite the struggles at the dish, some stellar outings from UT’s relievers kept them in the game and held the Commodores’ lineup in check, as well. The relief duo of Cam Appenzeller and Bo Rhudy combined to toss nine shutout innings in relief of starter Landon Mack, who also was solid despite one rough inning, finishing with nine strikeouts and no walks while allowing five runs (four earned) in five innings of work.
Appenzeller continued his impressive freshman campaign with six scoreless frames while striking out four and scattering four hits while Rhudy followed that up with three perfect innings in which he retired all nine batters he faced.
Vandy (16-12, 4-4 SEC) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead with a five spot in the fourth inning, which featured a pair of home runs by Ryker Waite and Mike Mancini and was aided by a pair of Tennessee errors.
The Vols, on the other hand, were held hitless through five innings before pouncing on Commodores’ starter Wyatt Nadeau for five runs of their own in the top of the sixth. Four of their nine hits in the game came in the big inning, which featured a two-run single by Blake Grimmer before Henry Ford went deep for the ninth time this season to drive in three more runs and even things up at five.
Neither team was able to produce a run over the next nine innings after that, as both bullpens stifled the opposing team’s lineups until Vanderbilt was finally able to break through in the bottom of the 16th by loading the bases on three walks before a Mack Whitcomb squeeze bunt plated the game-winning run.
UT had its opportunities to pull ahead in extra innings but was unable to cash in and ended up leaving 12 runners on base for the day. The Vols had the go-ahead run in scoring position in the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th innings, but left runners stranded each time, including runners on second and third in the 15th.
Garrett Wright led Tennessee offensively with three hits and a run scored, as he was the only Vol to finish with multiple hits on Saturday.
UP NEXT: The Big Orange will look to salvage the series on Sunday when the two sides square off at noon ET in Nashville. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
