NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 1/1 Tennessee struggled at the plate in a 3-0 loss to No. 25/NR Vanderbilt in Sunday’s series finale at Hawkins Field in Nashville.
The Commodores were able to avoid being swept for the second straight time at home against the Volunteers thanks in large part to a pair of impressive pitching performances from JD Thompson and Devin Futrell, who stymied UT’s lineup throughout the afternoon.
Thompson got the start and tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while racking up nine strikeouts and issuing three walks to get the win and improve to 4-1 on the year.
Futrell entered the game with runners on first and second with no outs in the seventh and struck out the next three batters to get Vandy out of the jam. The junior lefthander went on to finish the game and record his first save of the season.
Dylan Dreiling had the only three base hits of the day for the Big Orange with three singles, one in the second inning, one to lead off the seventh and another with one out in the ninth. Tennessee’s three hits were its fewest in a game this season as it was shut out for the first time this year.
Vanderbilt scored all three of its runs in the first two innings, plating a pair in the bottom of the first on a two-run homer by Alan Espinal before adding another on an RBI single off the bat of Jonathan Vastine in the third. All three runs for the Dores came with two outs.
Righthander Nate Snead provided the Vols with a valiant effort out of the bullpen and kept the team within striking distance with 4.1 scoreless innings of relief, striking out four batters while scattering five hits.
Lefty relievers Andrew Behnke and Kirby Connell also had scoreless outings out of the pen, pitching the final 1.2 innings.
STAT OF THE GAME: With this weekend’s series win in Nashville, the Big Orange continued its recent run of success against their in-state rival.
Tennessee has now won back-to-back series at Vanderbilt for the first time since winning three series in a row in 1990, 1993 and 1995.
UT’s nine game win streak against the Commodores was its longest since recording 22 straight victories in the series from May 9, 1964 through April 24, 1970.
UP NEXT: The Vols return to Knoxville to finish the regular season with four home games next week, starting with another in-state tilt against Belmont on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
