OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – For the second straight week, No. 24 Tennessee started its series off with a win, outlasting No. 20 Oklahoma by a score of 9-7 in a back-and-forth ballgame at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.
Despite getting outhit 17-7 on the night, the Volunteers (36-18, 14-14 SEC) took advantage of 11 free passes from the Sooners – nine walks and two hit batters – and came up with a handful of clutch hits throughout the game to pull out the victory.
Six of UT’s seven hits came with runners on base, including four with runners in scoring position. Henry Ford, Levi Clark and Manny Marin all had two RBIs apiece and combined to draw four walks to lead the Vols’ attack.
After finding themselves in an early 3-0 hole, the Big Orange battled back to take the lead with a four-run third inning to chase Sooners’ starter Cameron Johnson from the game. Blake Grimmer and Reese Chapman both had RBI doubles while Marin and Blaine Brown also drove in runs in the inning.
Johnson finished with five strikeouts but pitched just 2.2 innings for OU, allowing four earned runs on four hits and five walks before handing the ball to freshman reliever Nick Wesloski.
Oklahoma (31-19, 14-15 SEC) scored runs in back-to-back innings to retake the lead off UT starter Tegan Kuhns, who clearly was not at his best on Thursday night after throwing a career-high 113 pitches during last Friday night’s win over Texas.
Despite the early struggles, Kuhns still battled to give the Vols five gritty innings and left with a 6-5 lead after striking out Drew Dickerson on his 108th pitch of the night to strand a pair of runners and end a scoreless fifth inning. The sophomore right-hander finished with five strikeouts on the night to reach 100 for the year and allowed five runs (four earned) on 12 hits to earn his fifth win.
After falling behind in the bottom of the fourth, the Vols managed to strike back and regain the lead on a two-run blast by Clark in the top of the fifth, his 12th home run of the year and eighth in SEC play.
Ford added to Tennessee’s lead with a two-run shot of his own, also his eighth in league play, one inning later to extend the lead to 8-5. Ford’s 415-foot tank was his team-leading 17th of the year and turned out to be the game-deciding hit for the Vols.
Freshman reliever Cam Appenzeller was able to keep the Sooners in check with back-to-back scoreless innings before allowing a two-run homer to Kyle Branch in the bottom of the eighth that cut the deficit back to one run.
Junior right-hander Bo Rhudy came on to record the final four outs of the game in relief of Appenzeller, locking down his team-leading third save of the season. An RBI single by Marin in the top of the ninth gave the Vols an extra insurance run, which proved to be plenty for Rhudy, who struck out pinch hitter Connor Larkin to end the game.
UP NEXT: UT will look to lock up its fifth SEC series win of the year with a victory on Friday night in game two. First pitch is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
