STARKVILLE, Miss. – Tennessee completed the series sweep of No. 8/9 Mississippi State with another well-rounded effort on Sunday afternoon, quieting the Bulldogs, 7-2, at Dudy Noble Field.
The Volunteers (24-12, 7-8 SEC) extended their current winning streak to 11 games against MSU and swept the Bulldogs (26-10, 7-8 SEC) for the second consecutive time in Starkville, which also marks the first time in program history UT has recorded two straight road series wins against State.
Tennessee received another outstanding pitching performance from starter Evan Blanco, who retired the first nine batters he faced with five strikeouts the first time through the order before giving up a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth. The senior lefty finished with six strikeouts and allowed just two runs on five hits over 6.2 innings to earn the win and improve to 3-2 on the year.
For the third straight day, the Vols struck first, plating a pair of runs in the top of the first inning.
Garrett Wright was hit by a pitch for the 13th time this season to lead off the game and raced from first to third on a double by Reese Chapman before scoring on an infield single by Henry Ford. Chapman came around to score one batter later on a ground ball by Blake Grimmer to give UT a quick 2-0 lead.
After MSU got on the board with a run in the fourth to cut its deficit in half, the Vols answered back with a pair of runs in the sixth. Ford drove in his second run of the day with an RBI groundout before Grimmer came through with a big-two out RBI single, lining a 3-2 pitch into right field to score Chapman and put UT ahead 4-1.
An RBI single by Reed Stallman in the bottom of the seventh got Mississippi State within two, but the Vols got a big strikeout from reliever Brady Frederick to end the frame.
After escaping a jam in the eighth and stranding runners on the corners, UT added some more insurance with a three-run rally in the top of the ninth. The Big Orange cranked out four consecutive two-out hits, capped by an RBI single from Manny Marin and a two-run double by Levi Clark to extend the lead to 7-2.
Bo Rhudy was nails out of the bullpen, recording the final two outs in the eighth before retiring the side in order in the ninth to slam the door for his second save of the season.
The sweep marked UT’s first in SEC play since taking all three from South Carolina on the road during the final weekend of March last year.
UP NEXT: The Vols return to Knoxville to open a nine-game homestand, starting with a Tuesday midweek game against UNC Asheville at 6 p.m. before hosting Ole Miss next weekend.
