The Vols had their chances late but could not convert.
Tennessee lost to Georgia 4-2 at Foley Field in Athens to level the series at a game apiece. The Vols (14-5, 1-1) left seven on base, four of which stood stranded in the seventh and eighth innings. The Bulldogs (16-3, 1-1) pressured the visiting pitching staff all day, putting a runner on base in all but one inning.
Landon Mack took the ball for No. 19 Tennessee, while Dylan Vigue toed the slab for No. 8 Georgia, looking to even the series for the hosts. Vigue cruised through his first three innings of work, allowing just a single baserunner on a hit by pitch. Conversely, Mack was knocked around in the early innings as the Bulldogs made a lot of hard contact.
In the second inning, Georgia would break through courtesy of a solo home run from Michael O’Shaugnessy to open the scoring. The next frame, Ryan Black hit one over the scoreboard for a two-run shot to push the lead to 3-0.
To lead off the fourth, Blaine Brown hammered a two-strike breaking ball deep over the scoreboard in right field to put Tennessee on the board. A two-out hit from Reese Chapman and a wild pitch gave the Vols an opportunity to get closer, but Stone Lawless flew out to center to end the inning, stranding Chapman at second.
The first two hitters reached in the bottom of the frame for Georgia, but a double play started by Manny Marin and a strikeout of Cole Johnson would keep the game at 3-1.
After helping kill Georgia’s rally, Marin started one for Tennessee with a one-out single to center. Garrett Wright came to the plate following a groundout that moved the runner to second, and he roped a two-strike pitch off the wall in left field for an RBI double to cut the deficit to a run. Brown stepped to the dish as the go-ahead run, but he flew out to center field, stranding Wright at second as the tying run.
In the bottom of the sixth, Mack loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a hit, doing so with nobody out. After inducing a force out at home, he gave way to freshman lefty Cam Appenzeller. The southpaw made his first conference appearance with the bases loaded and one out, trying to keep his team’s deficit a manageable one.
Georgia right fielder Jack Arcamone greeted him with a single to right field to plate a run, but Tennessee right fielder Chapman threw a dart to the plate and cut down Brennan Hudson for the second out of the inning. Appenzeller would induce a flyout to end the inning and limit the damage to just a run.
Looking for a response, Tyler Myatt and Marin reached on consecutive hits to put the tying run aboard. Georgia reliever Cade Aoki would conjure a flyout from Jay Abernathy and a fielder’s choice from Wright to eliminate the threat from head coach Josh Elander’s group.
Again, the Vols put the tying runs aboard in the eighth, as Brown walked and Blake Grimmer hit a one-out double. Aoki held his nerve, striking out Chapman and getting Lawless to sky out.
Appenzeller did his job again by working a three-up, three-down eighth. He tossed 2.2 innings of valiant work, allowing two hits and striking out a pair.
Aoki retired the Vols in order in the ninth to finish off a 12-out save and nail down the victory for Georgia.
In the rubber match on March 15, Tennessee is set to start Evan Blanco, while Georgia looks to send Kenny Ishikawa to the bump.
