KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On a night where runs were hard to come by for both teams, No. 3/3 Tennessee’s pitching staff came up big as the Volunteers secured their sixth consecutive SEC series win with a 3-2 victory over Missouri on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
A fantastic outing from starter Drew Beam led the way for the Big Orange, who improved to 36-7 overall and 14-6 in conference play with the win.
Beam allowed just two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts in 7.1 innings of work to improve to 6-1 on the year. The junior righthander held the Tigers scoreless through seven innings before giving up an infield single and a home run that barely cleared the wall in left field in the top of the eighth.
Kirby Connell and Aaron Combs slammed the door in the eighth and ninth to wrap up the win. Connell retired all four batters he faced before handing the ball off with two outs in the ninth. After allowing a runner to reach on an error, Combs got Drew Culbertson to fly out to right field to end the game and lock up his second save in his last three appearances.
At the plate, Billy Amick and Dean Curley were the only Vols with multiple hits in the game as both finished 2-for-4 on the night. After UT scored its first run on a wild pitch in the fourth inning, Hunter Ensley made it 2-0 Vols moments later with an RBI double to left field.
Blake Burke drove in the only other run of the night for Tennessee, plating Cal Stark on an RBI groundout in the seven inning that turned out to be the game-winning run. Stark led off the inning with a double off the top of the wall in right-center field.
Missouri starting pitcher Logan Lunceford was extremely effective throughout his outing, especially in the early innings as he held the Vols’ high-powered lineup to just one hit through the first three frames. Lunceford was stuck with the loss despite giving up just two runs on six hits over five innings.
Trevor Austin’s two-run homer in the eighth inning proved to be the only offense of the night for the Tigers, who fell to 19-25 on the year and 6-14 in league play.
STAT OF THE GAME: With 7.1 innings pitched on Friday night, Beam has now tossed at least five innings in nine of his 11 starts this season and has gone six or more innings five times, including in three of his last four starts.
UP NEXT: Tennessee will look to record its second SEC sweep of the year when it squares off against Mizzou in Saturday’s series finale. First pitch at Lindsey Nelson Stadium is slated for noon on the SEC Network.
