Tennessee lost another heartbreaker in its series opener Friday night, falling 7-5 to LSU at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Landon Mack started on the mound for Tennessee as Josh Elander elected to mix up the starting rotation for the third consecutive weekend.
“We haven’t won on Friday night in a couple weeks, so we got to keep mixing and matching,” Elander said after the game.
Elander trusted Mack with the Friday night start due to his experience in the role.
“We challenged him, ‘Hey, Friday night, you’re a guy that has handled this in the past,’” Elander said.
Mack cruised through the first inning but ran into trouble in the second, allowing two early singles. With the help of a couple of strikeouts, he worked out of the jam.
In the third, top-100 MLB draft prospect Jake Brown hit a solo home run to give LSU an early lead.
Levi Clark responded in the bottom half with a solo home run of his own, tying the game at 1-1.
Tennessee’s offense continued in the fourth. After a one-out single by Blake Grimmer, Reese Chapman hit a two-run home run to right-center field, giving Tennessee a 3-1 lead.
Mack recorded two quick outs in the fifth before Steven Milam hit a deep drive to right field that appeared destined to clear the wall. Chapman tracked it down, making the catch as he crashed into the wall and held on to preserve the out.
“Everything went in slow motion for me,” Chapman said. “I jumped, caught the ball, but yeah, certainly took a beating off that wall. It was good that I held onto it to get the momentum.”
Chapman said he was aware of his position relative to the wall, having played right field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium for two and a half years.
Tennessee’s offense cooled off, but Mack remained dominant. After allowing the home run in the third, he retired the next 15 batters he faced, striking out seven. He exited after the seventh inning.
Mack’s final line included seven innings pitched, three hits, one run, one walk and 10 strikeouts. He set season highs in innings pitched and strikeouts in SEC play.
Tennessee added an insurance run in the seventh when Grimmer drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded. Chapman struck out to end the inning, leaving runners stranded.
“I mean, there’s ABs we got to do better in certain moments. For instance, I had one with the bases loaded, and I struck out. I got to compete more,” Chapman said.
With Mack out, LSU capitalized in the eighth. Brandon Arvidson entered but struggled to find the strike zone.
“He was just spraying the ball a little bit,” Elander said. “Credit to LSU, they did a good job of kind of squeezing him there, but at that point, you got to come in and attack the strike zone.”
Arvidson issued three consecutive walks before recording one out. Elander then turned to Bo Rhudy to escape the jam.
Rhudy struck out the first batter he faced before Derek Curiel, the sixth-ranked MLB draft prospect, hit a two-out grand slam to give LSU the lead. Seth Dardar followed with a solo home run, extending the lead. Chandler Day entered and ended the inning.
Arvidson allowed three runs on three walks while recording one out. Rhudy gave up two runs on two hits and also recorded one out.
In the ninth, LSU added another run when Chris Stanfield hit a two-out solo home run with two strikes. Grimmer responded with a two-out solo home run in the bottom half, but Tennessee fell short.
Ultimately, the bullpen faltered, but Elander took responsibility.
“It’s my fault. Again, whatever the decision is, it’s, again, have conviction in the moment,” Elander said. “Clearly [going to Arvidson and Rhudy was] the wrong decision, looking back now… because we didn’t win the game.”
Tennessee has now lost three of its four SEC series and its last four conference games when leading in the eighth inning or later. The series against LSU could serve as a turning point for the remainder of the season.
