April 13, 2025, marked the last time that Tennessee baseball had won a regular-season conference series entering Sunday’s game against Mizzou.
The streak came to an end on Sunday afternoon. A big start from Evan Blanco, along with the bats waking up, boosted the Vols to a 7-1 win over the Tigers.
The Vols (17-7, 3-3 SEC) utilized small ball in the first inning to earn the first run of the afternoon. A double steal involving Reese Chapman going to second and Blaine Brown stealing home put the Vols up 1-0.
A rough throw from the Tigers’ (16-8, 2-4 SEC) catcher to second base gave Brown all the time in the world to cross home. The Vols were wasting no time trying to take advantage of the Tigers in the first. It took some time for more offense to matriculate for the Vols, two innings to be specific, but a leadoff double from Chapman was a good start for the bottom of the fourth inning.
“He’s a stud, he’s a winner,” Tennessee head coach Josh Elander said. “I’m glad he’s in the building still, and there was a time last summer where we thought he was gonna get drafted, and all of a sudden now he’s back on campus, and I think he makes everybody in the building better. Not only between the lines, but the locker room, with what he brings to the table.”
Garrett Wright moved runners to the corners with no outs after a single, before Manny Marin drove home Chapman with a sacrifice fly. With the 2-0 lead, Levi Clark sent a ball to deep right field, just clearing over the outfielder’s outstretched glove and giving the Vols a 4-0 lead.
Blanco continued to cruise through the game. After five innings, he had allowed just one hit and no runs to cross home, but the sixth inning began to give some trouble.
After a quick two outs from Blanco, Pierre Seals from Mizzou struck a ball that was marked 109 mph off the bat, hitting off the left field light pole and breaking the shutout for the Tigers. Blanco allowed his second hit of the inning with a hard-hit single before limiting the damage and forcing a flyout to right field.
“It was just good to see him really settle in and they were hacking for first pitch,” Elander said.
”I mean, trying to get after him, but he just did a good job of mixing speeds and really filling it up and really the only blemish was Seals landed on one, but we can live with that. If he’s not going to walk guys and not give a free 90 feet, he’s pretty good.”
Keagan Kohlhoff was the starter for the Tigers on Sunday. After allowing a three-run fourth inning, the left-hander settled in over the next two frames, sitting down the next six batters.
Despite his hot stretch, Kohlhoff was relieved in the bottom of the seventh for Trey Lawrence. Stone Lawless continued his big weekend with his fourth hit of the series, a leadoff double in the seventh. Lawless was brought home by Tyler Myatt, who pinch hit for Chris Newstrom, on a single to right field. The insurance from Myatt put the Vols up 5-1 with two innings to go.
Blanco’s day ended after he hit a career high in innings pitched in a single game. He finished his day with 7.2 innings before allowing a single and being relieved by Brayden Krenzel.
“I think pounding the zone early,” Blanco said. “I relied heavily on my fastball today, and they were giving me the first pitch swings, so to be able to get out early counts was beneficial for us, but also pitch counts staying in the game longer and giving us a chance to win.”
Krenzel hit his first batter and allowed the runners to advance after a wild pitch, but froze Kaden Peer for the strikeout and escaped the jam.
After Chapman reached base for the third time, this time from a two-out walk, Wright muscled his second home run of the season to put the Vols up 7-1 as things turned over to the ninth.
Krenzel remained on the mound for the final three outs, where he handled the final batters with little resistance. The Tigers went three up three down as the Vols clinched their first regular-season conference series win in almost a year.
