Mississippi State hasn’t beaten Tennessee baseball since April 7, 2019.
That streak stayed true on Sunday, as the Vols completed their first conference sweep in over a year, downing the Bulldogs 7-2 at Dudy Noble Field. Tennessee has now won 11 straight over Mississippi State.
The Vols (24-12, 7-8 SEC) were boosted with hits when it mattered most. Tennessee batted 7-for-12 with runners on base, including a 4-for-7 mark with them in scoring position. It went 9-for-12 on advancement opportunities and brought multiple insurance runs across the plate in the sixth and ninth innings.
Mississippi State (26-10, 7-8) mustered just six hits off Tennessee’s pitching staff.
Striking fast
Tennessee’s theme of the weekend was getting on the board early. Sunday saw the first three batters of the game reach base, allowing a run to come home before an out was recorded.
Garrett Wright led off with a 0-2 hit-by-pitch, while Reese Chapman followed with a double to left. Henry Ford smacked an RBI single through to put a run up, before Blake Grimmer grounded into a run-scoring double play.
Tennessee’s two early runs were crucial before the bats went silent.
Sunday rubber duel
Evan Blanco and Charlie Foster delivered a Sunday duel on the mound as Mississippi State looked to salvage the series. It was Blanco, though, who got the leg up on his former head coach.
Tennessee’s third game starter went 6.2 innings, allowing five hits and two runs while striking out six batters. He retired the first nine out of the gate before a fourth-inning leadoff single ended a perfect game bid. He allowed the Vols to stay away from its dreaded bullpen as long as possible with 94 pitches.
Foster’s outing was hindered by a quick burst from Tennessee. He was tagged with four earned runs, with damage coming in the first and last innings he pitched in. The Vols struggled to make contact in the middle innings.
Between a Manny Marin double play ball in the second inning and a Wright walk in the sixth, Foster retired 12 Tennessee batters in a row. The Vols went down in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
Foster ran into trouble in the sixth when Chapman laced a double to put two in scoring position with one out. Mississippi State went to the bullpen afterward, and Tennessee brought both runners home — putting those runs on Foster’s line.
Blanco was finally chased out after pitch No. 94 was lined into center field for an RBI single, following a two-out double in the seventh.
Bo Rhudy rebounds
LSU got the best of him a week ago. Derek Curiel’s leading grand slam in the opener put Rhudy down, and he proceeded to allow three home runs across the rest of the weekend.
But a midweek appearance cleaned his slate, and the Vols went back to Rhudy in a high-leverage SEC situation on Sunday. And he delivered.
Rhudy entered with the tying run on base and just one out recorded. He pitched into a fiddler’s choice and a flyout to hold a two-run lead heading into the ninth.
He finished off the ninth with a strikeout, groundout and a lineout to secure the Vols’ sweep. Rhudy finished with 1.2 clean innings, retiring all five batters he faced.
