The Kentucky baseball team came to Lindsey Nelson Stadium as not only the No. 2 team in the country, but also the only undefeated team left in college baseball. Despite winning the series, the Wildcats left Knoxville blemished, as the Vols were able to do what no team before them could, beat Kentucky.
Tennessee (13-10, 2-4 SEC) entered the game hot off two wins and it continued that streak in the first game of the series on Friday, downing the Wildcats 4-1. The upset came through a combination of effective small ball, with all four runs coming off of four hits, and also eight innings from junior pitcher Zack Godley, who, combined with one inning from junior Nick Blount, held Kentucky to a season-low four hits.
Godley’s performance especially stood out as he had one of the best games of his career against one of the NCAA’s best hitting teams. He tied a career-high with eight innings of work with only three hits allowed, retiring 21 of the final 25 batters he faced following his first-inning earned run.
“Zack has really turned into a very grounded young man,” UT head coach Dave Serrano said. “Zack and I have formed a pretty special relationship of trust. I really feel every time he gets the opportunity to pitch that we are going to get a pretty good outing and I feel he trusts me and the pitches that I’m selecting.
“I felt good about him tonight. I felt like it was a good matchup. I felt like he just stayed within himself. I thought his side throwing was good. He was back (after losing last week). It was like he just let it go, like no big deal. OK, you didn’t pitch well last week and now it’s another week. It’s kind of how I want our guys to respond. I want them to have a little amnesia where they just let it go.”
The win over Kentucky (13-10, 2-4 SEC) was UT’s first over a team ranked among the top two in the nation since 2009, when the Vols beat then-No. 1 LSU in two games out of a three-game series.
“That was a good win,” Serrano said. “I’m not trying to minimize beating the last undefeated team but (I just see it as) beating another opponent in the SEC.”
While the Vols started the series well, their momentum could not carry them through the rest of the weekend.
Saturday’s game was played over two days, as rain caused an overnight delay. Despite the Wildcats jumping out to a 5-0 advantage by the home half of the fifth inning on Saturday, Tennessee was in a good position to close the gap with two men in scoring position before lighting halted the game for the night.
Freshman Brandon Zajac made his collegiate debut for Tennessee starting the contest on Saturday. In 2.2 innings of work, he allowed three runs — two earned — on three hits.
The rain delay seemed to take the momentum away from the Vols, as they were only able to put two runs up in the bottom of the fifth, losing the game 6-2.
The final game of the series was a seven-inning matchup played Sunday when they finished the remainder of Saturday’s matchup.
Through the first five innings, the Vols held Kentucky scoreless, with the game standing at a 0-0 tie going into the sixth.
Tennessee lost control, however, in the sixth and seventh innings as they gave up six unanswered runs.
“We just fell apart,” Serrano said. “We were hanging with them and we played with them, but we had some opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of. And to beat quality teams you have to do that.”
Those missed opportunities weighed on Serrano the most.
“We were a swing away from being in this game,” Serrano said. “… Getting us on the board early would have put a lot of confidence in our team, but we didn’t do it. And because of that we came up on the short end.”
Despite dropping the final two games, the weekend series was not a complete loss for the Vols, as it did provide them with a sense of confidence.
“In the SEC anyone can compete with anyone,” said sophomore pitcher Dalton Saberhagen. “I don’t think that there is any team that is out of it by any means. So we’re confident. We gave Kentucky their first loss and we felt good about that. But at the same time we can’t be content if we knock off a good team. We got to keep going and keep working hard.”
