BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 4/6 Tennessee fell to No. 3/7 LSU, 12-2, in Sunday afternoon’s series finale at Alex Box Stadium.
The Volunteers (35-9, 13-8 SEC) looked poised for a big day at the plate after plating two runs on four hits in the top of the first inning, but Tigers’ starter Casan Evans rebounded from his rough opening frame to shut down the UT attack for the remainder of his outing.
Evans earned the win to improve to 3-0 after striking out six and walking none over six innings of work. Fellow righty Zac Cowan pitched the final two innings, allowing just one hit.
LSU (36-9, 14-7 SEC) had its best offensive performance of the series, scoring 12 unanswered runs after falling behind 2-0. The Tigers finished with 13 hits, led by a monster day from leadoff hitter Derek Curiel, who was 4-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored, a homer and five RBIs.
A sacrifice fly by Hunter Ensley and a double from Dalton Bargo produced the Vols’ only two runs of the day. Dean Curley and Andrew Fischer led Tennessee at the dish with a pair of hits and a run scored each. Fischer kept his on-base streak going, as well, with a single in the first inning and a double in the eighth.
The junior first baseman is the only player in the SEC to have reached base in every game this year and has now reached safely in 47 consecutive games dating back to last season.
After making his 2025 SEC debut last weekend with a scoreless relief appearance against Kentucky, AJ Russell made his first start in league play on Sunday. The junior righthander allowed two runs on three hits while striking out two batters in 1.2 innings.
UT’s bullpen didn’t fare much better, allowing 10 runs on 10 hits as LSU continued to add to its lead throughout the game.
Up Next
The Vols open a nine-game homestand on Tuesday night against Northern Kentucky at 6 p.m. before hosting Auburn over the weekend at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
