After back-to-back strong performances for the Vols to start the series, head coach Josh Elander was tasked with finding a new starting pitcher for Sunday, as Landon Mack was scratched from his start.
Despite an early grand slam from Reese Chapman in the first, the Vols still couldn’t hang on to claim the three-game sweep, losing 12-6 to Texas.
Chapman recorded two home runs, going 2-for-4 in the afternoon with six RBIs under his belt against the No. 4 Longhorns.
Taylor Tracey replaces Landon Mack as Sunday starter due to soreness
Tracey was handed the ball to start Sunday’s series finale against a tough Texas lineup, in a game that also went in the books as the freshman made his first career SEC start.
To start the game off, Tracey forced two quick jams to the top Texas hitters, Aiden Robbins and Carson Tinney. After two popouts, the laboring for Tracey began. He allowed his first baserunner to reach on a walk before allowing another free pass the next at-bat.
From two outs and nobody on, to two outs and two on base, Adrian Rodriguez and Casey Borba followed through with back-to-back home runs, giving the Longhorns an early four-run lead in the first inning.
Tracey walked another batter before Elander left his spot in the dugout and signaled to his bullpen, ending Tracey’s outing after just two outs.
He allowed four earned runs, walked three and had no answer after a quick two outs were posted.
Bullpen shows ups and downs against Longhorns
After Tracey’s two outs before getting removed from the game, he was replaced by another lefty, Chandler Day.
Day entered the game with 7.1 innings under his belt, and despite facing some traffic in the third, looked solid after tossing three innings of two-run baseball.
His main trouble in the third came in the form of an Anthony Pack Jr. solo-shot, followed up by two more base hits. A sac-fly brought home the second run of the inning.
After three innings from Day, Elander brought him out for yet another left-handed arm, Will Haas. Haas earned the final out in the fourth inning, stranding a runner. He went back to work in the fifth, where the Longhorns were able to tally a run from a fielder’s choice, allowing them to take a three-run lead in the fifth.
Haas finished with 1.1 innings, one hit, one run, one earned run, one walk and no strikeouts over 19 total pitches, before being relieved by Brayden Krenzel in the top of the sixth.
Krenzel collected two quick outs, but his game came apart at the seams with each at-bat, as the Longhorns amassed a two-out rally to score a run and end his day early.
The line continued with Bo Rhudy entering for Krenzel.
Rhudy entered with two outs in the sixth, yet couldn’t cash in an out, instead allowing Casey Borba to hit a grand slam, putting the dagger in any sweep chances for the Vols.
Mark Hindy and Ethan Baiotto finished the game out, Baiotto allowed one earned run.
Offense falls flat in finale
Through the first two games of the series against Texas, the Vols’ offense scored 19 runs; granted that 14 came during Saturday’s contest, there was still quite a drop-off in production.
Reese Chapman does not fall into the same category, though. He clubbed two home runs and scored the first six runs for the Vols.
Despite the big swings from Chapman, he was the only Vol to tally an RBI on Sunday. He finished with all six of the runs batted in, all coming off of two swings of the bat. Chapman was the only Vol to have more than one hit, with guys like Blake Grimmer, Manny Marin, Henry Ford, Levi Clark and Garrett Wright finishing with one.
As a team, the Vols left four runners on base while striking out 12 times as a unit — they struck out just five times the night before.
If the Vols wanted a chance of winning three in a row over Texas, they were going to need some fireworks. While Chapman had a response for the early Longhorns runs, the rest of the team didn’t seem to follow suit.
