A record crowd of 7,430 had all but fully cleared out of Lindsey Nelson Stadium, and that conglomerate missed Trent Grindlinger’s blast, a one-out solo shot off the scoreboard in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The importance of the swing prevented Tennessee baseball from suffering its second shutout loss of the season in an 8-1 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday. Grindlinger’s blast was part of a two-hit day for the Vols, who struggled mightily at the plate — including 5.1 innings of no-hit baseball from Ole Miss. The day favored those who toed the rubber at the start as Tegan Kuhns and Cade Townsend went 5.2 and 6.0 innings, respectively, of scoreless baseball in their starts.

Garrett Wright’s infield single with one out in the sixth inning broke the first no-hit bid against Tennessee since March 19, 1988, and Grindlinger’s second-career homer prevented the first regular-season shutout loss in conference play in nearly two years.

Ole Miss (29-11, 10-7 SEC) continued its pummeling of quality Tennessee arms, as Cam Appenzeller was lit up for six runs in 2.1 innings. That was the start of a bullpen that allowed eight runs in the loss.

Tennessee (25-14, 7-10) blew its lone opportunity in the sixth inning. The Vols put two runners aboard with one out, but flew out and chased strike three to end the threat.

Silence first time through

Townsend has his way with the Vols’ lineup the first time through.

Tennessee went 0-for-9 through the first three innings, as Townsend retired the side all the way down the card. He did it on 33 pitches with four strikeouts, four flyouts and a groundout.

None of the Vols’ at-bats made it to a three-ball count. Reese Chapman, Blake Grimmer and Levi Clark each worked the count to 2-2, but recorded two strikeouts and a lineout amongst the bunch.

Garrett Wright’s fourth-inning crack as the lineup flipped over was no more successful. He lined out at 105 mph to the second baseman. Chapman and Henry Ford went down to push it to 12 in a row retired out of the gate.

Grimmer took a 1-2 pitch off the back to lead off the fifth inning — preventing Townsend from submitting a perfect game bid. Townsend’s line finished with 6.0 innings pitched, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out seven batters.

Kuhns manuvers traffic

While Townsend eliminated any threat from reaching the basepaths, Kuhns navigated the bump with runners behind him.

In each of the first three innings, Ole Miss put a runner aboard — a runner standing in scoring position with less each time.

The Rebels had two on with one out in the first after a walk and a single. Kuhns responded with a strikeout and groundout. In the second inning, Austin Fawley manufactured a two-out double. Kuhns sat down Cannon Goldin in full-count to erase that baserunner. Dom Decker led off the third with a single, and Will Furniss moved him over with a two-out single of his own. Kuhns put Hayden Federico away on three pitches with a swinging strikeout.

Kuhns’ fourth inning was the first clean frame of the outing, retiring the side with a flyout and two strikeouts. He retired seven Rebels in a row from the last out of the third to the leadoff batter of the fifth.

Kuhns finished the day with 5.2 innings of shutout baseball. He threw a career-high 96 pitches and struck out 10 with one walk.

Appenzeller ripped apart

Tennessee’s most reliable arms in conference play struggled when he entered in relief of Kuhns. Appenzeller’s first full inning of work was the seventh, and the Rebels stayed patient at the plate.

Appenzeller issued a four-pitch walk to seven-hole hitter Brayden Randle, then followed it with a five-pitch walk to eight-hole hitter Austin Fawley. Before Saturday’s appearance, Appenzeller had only walked five batters in 36.1 innings.

A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, then Dom Decker broke the tie with a sacrifice fly to left field as Randle tagged from third.

Ole Miss tacked on another run in the eighth on a Hayden Federico RBI double on a ball that Blaine Brown misjudged in left as he dove for the ball and completely missed.

Appenzeller got shelled for four hits in the ninth, including a grand slam.