Tennessee lost the rubber match against LSU, 16-6 in 12 innings, dropping another SEC game and another series in heartbreaking fashion.
Both offenses were quiet to start, but Tennessee’s bats came alive in the bottom of the third.
Garrett Wright ripped a double to left to start the rally. Reese Chapman reached on an error by the first baseman, setting up a first-and-third situation with one out.
Henry Ford hit a sacrifice fly to right field that resulted in a scary collision at home and a run. LSU’s catcher was taken out of the game, but Tennessee’s offense was not done.
Blake Grimmer was intentionally walked for the second time in the game, giving Manny Marin an opportunity with two outs. Marin hit a ground ball to the shortstop, who committed another error, extending the inning for Tennessee again. This gave Blaine Brown an opportunity with the bases loaded, and he did not disappoint. Brown hit a grand slam to center field off Zac Cowan to put Tennessee up 5-0.
Evan Blanco went back out in the fourth and got into a little trouble, giving up a double and two walks. After a couple of flyouts and a visit from the pitching coach, Blanco struck out John Pearson looking for the final out of the inning.
Blanco made just two mistakes on the mound. In the fifth, he gave up a leadoff home run to Cade Arrambide, and in the seventh he gave up another solo home run to John Pearson that ended his day. Blanco was otherwise strong, finishing with three perfect innings and six strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.
Brady Frederick came on in relief for Blanco but struggled from the first pitch. Frederick gave up a home run on the first pitch he threw. A few pitches later, Frederick gave up another home run, giving LSU back-to-back-to-back home runs with its seventh, eighth and ninth hitters. Frederick was immediately pulled for Brandon Arvidson without recording an out.
Arvidson finally stopped the bleeding and got out of the inning before LSU could tie the game.
Cowan silenced Tennessee’s offense after Brown’s grand slam, giving his team a chance to work back into the game. Cowan retired 12 in a row after the grand slam, with the streak ending on an error by his third baseman that allowed Wright to reach second with two outs in the seventh. The error ended Cowan’s day as well.
Danny Lachenmayer came on in relief of Cowan and hit Chapman with a pitch, immediately ending his day as well. Gavin Guidry was the next pitcher out of the bullpen and came in to shut down the two-out threat by Tennessee.
In the top of the ninth, LSU loaded the bases with two outs. Down by one, MLB Draft prospect Jake Brown beat out an infield single to second base to drive in the tying run. Arvidson eventually got out of it, but Tennessee failed to score in the ninth, sending the game to extra innings.
“Home field in the ninth, we need to be able to mix and match,” Josh Elander said of his bullpen faltering again.
Defense was on display for Tennessee in the 10th. After MLB Draft prospect Derek Curiel led off with a bunt single, Steven Milam hit a single that scooted past Chapman in right field. The bobble allowed LSU’s third base coach to send Curiel home, but Chapman recovered and Tennessee executed a perfect relay to cut Curiel down at the plate.
Bo Rhudy came in for Arvidson and retired the next two batters in order to get out of the inning without allowing a run.
Guidry continued to dominate Tennessee’s lineup and worked a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th, sending it to the 11th.
In the top of the 11th, Rhudy made one mistake to Arrambide, who launched his third solo home run of the day to right field to put LSU up 6-5.
In the bottom of the 11th, Blaine Brown led off with a single against the shift. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runner to scoring position and a wild pitch moved the runner to third, Levi Clark hit a ball to center field that looked to be ending the game. Curiel made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Clark, keeping it to an RBI sacrifice fly to tie the game. LSU got out of the inning, pushing the game to the 12th.
Brayden Krenzel came out of the bullpen in the 12th and hit the first batter he faced, forcing Elander’s hand immediately. Elander went straight to Chandler Day, who gave up back-to-back singles that led to another LSU run. Elander again pivoted to Nic Abraham out of the bullpen with runners on first and second and no outs.
“We were trying to get Krenzel to get us a ground ball right there, hits the first guy, didn’t throw the pitch with conviction, and it just kind of unraveled from there,” Elander said.
Abraham hit the first batter he faced to load the bases. Tennessee recorded the first out on a jammed line drive to the shortstop. Arrambide then came up again to continue his tremendous day. He hit a no-doubter to right field to drive in four and blow the game open. Arrambide became the first player to hit four home runs against Tennessee.
LSU did not take its foot off the gas in the 12th. After the grand slam, Tennessee gave up five more runs to give LSU a 10-run inning and put the game out of reach.
Guidry pitched the final 5 1/3 innings to earn the save and close the door on a four-hour, two-minute game, clinching the series for LSU. It is LSU’s first series win in Knoxville since 2016.
Elander has voiced Tennessee’s inability to close out games multiple times this season and continued to bring up the same point after Sunday’s loss.
“I think there’s a lot of different things,” Elander said. “ We got to make sure that when you come out of the bullpen, you compete with conviction, instead of just floating pitches in there.”
Elander continued, saying the team is still working through it, showing some good signs but ultimately not executing when it mattered most.
“We just need to be better in all facets, and we get a chance to do it starting on Tuesday,” Elander said.
Tennessee fell to 4-8 in conference play and sits 14th in the SEC. Tennessee will look to bounce back when it hosts Northern Kentucky at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
