OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – No. 24 Tennessee put forth a valiant effort but was unable to complete the series sweep of No. 20 Oklahoma after digging itself an early hole in a 12-9 loss in Saturday’s series finale at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
It was a nightmare first inning for the Volunteers despite retiring the first two batters of the frame. Freshman Chandler Day, making his first-career start, struck out Jason Walk to start things off before getting a weak groundout for out number two, but things quickly went south after that.
The next eight batters reached base for the Sooners, who scored six runs on just two hits in the inning after being aided by a pair of UT errors and four walks. Just one of the six runs scored by OU in the first inning was earned, a Deiten LaChance solo home run to open the scoring.
LaChance was a problem the Tennessee pitching staff was unable to solve all game long as he finished 4-for-5 with three solo homers and a triple for the Sooners.
Tennessee (37-19, 15-15 SEC) responded right back in the top of the second on a two-run blast from Levi Clark, his 13th homer of the year, after Reese Chapman led off the inning with a single.
Oklahoma (32-20, 14-16 SEC) got those runs right back, however, scoring twice on three hits in the bottom of the second to retake a six-run lead.
The two sides traded runs in the fourth inning before the Big Orange struck for three more in the top of the fifth to really get themselves back in it.
Nate Eisfelder was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Ariel Antigua followed with a double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Garrett Wright and Blake Grimmer brought home Eisfelder and Antigua before Henry Ford blasted his 18th home run of the year to cut the OU lead to 9-6.
The Vols chipped away at the Sooners’ lead once again in the top of the seventh as Chapman continued his huge day at the dish with a two-out, bases-loaded single to plate a pair of runs and cut the deficit to two at 10-8.
Chapman finished with a career-high tying four hits with two runs scored in the final regular-season game of his career.
LaChance’s third homer of the game extended Oklahoma’s lead back to three in the bottom of the seventh before the two sides exchanged runs once again in the eighth to make it 12-9 heading into the final inning.
Sooners’ closer Jackson Cleveland was able to retire the side in order in the ninth to shut the door and pick up his eighth save, helping OU salvage a game in the series.
UP NEXT: Tennessee will head to Hoover, Alabama for the SEC Tournament, where it will be the No. 10 seed and take on No. 15 seed South Carolina in Tuesday’s opening round. The Vols and Gamecocks are slated to square off in the third game of the day at 5:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
