No. 8 Arkansas (41-12, 18-10 SEC) could not pull within reach of the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers (41-13, 16-12 SEC), 10-7, in Thursday night's series opener at Baum-Walker Stadium. The Razorbacks have now lost three of their last four games.
Arkansas baseball vs Tennessee: Game one
Tennessee scored the game’s first run in the top of the second inning on a leadoff solo shot by LF Dalton Fargo to left field on the first pitch he saw.
After 2B Camden Kozeal grounded out to begin the bottom of the second, Arkansas loaded up the bases with C Ryder Helfrick and 3B Brent Iredale reaching on back-to-back singles and 1B Reese Robinett drawing a walk. After CF Justin Thomas Jr. struck out on three pitches, LF Charles Davalan came through with a double down the right field line. Both Helfrick and Iredale scored on the play, but Robinett was thrown out at home to end the inning. The Razorbacks still had a 2-1 lead.
Tennessee snatched the lead back in the top of the fourth with 2B Dean Curley getting on with a one-out single with one out and RF Reese Chapman drawing a walk to place runners on first and second. C Cannon Peebles struck out looking for the second out, but pinch hitter Levi Clark worked a walk to load the bases. 3B Manny Marin drove in Curley and Chapman to give the Volunteers the lead with a single to short. SS Gavin Kilen extended the lead to two with an RBI single to right while Marin moved over to third, 4-2. After Kilen’s RBI single, LHP Zach Root was relieved by RHP Gabe Gaeckle.
Root tossed 3.2 innings in his 14th start of the season while allowing four runs, seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts on 68 pitches (41 strikes).
After SS Wehiwa Aloy grounded out to open up the bottom of the fifth, RF Logan Maxwell legged out a bunt single. DH Kuhio Aloy drove him home with an RBI double down the right field line to cut the deficit to one. LHP Dylan Loy relieved RHP Marcus Phillips and struck out Kozeal for the second out. RHP AJ Russell was placed on the mound for Loy and made Helfrick go down swinging to keep Tennessee ahead.
The Volunteers opened up the top of the seventh with a leadoff single by 1B Andrew Fischer, but CF Hunter Ensley grounded into a fielder's choice at short on what should have been a double play. After Ensley stole second base, Bargo crushed a two-run home run to right field to extend Tennessee's lead to three, 6-3. Curley followed up with a solo shot to left field to go back-to-back with Bargo and put the game out of reach with a four-run advantage. After allowing a walk to Chapman, Gaeckle was relieved by RHP Dylan Carter.
Gaeckle tossed 2.2 innings of relief in his 14th appearance of the year while surrendering three runs, four hits and two walks with three strikeouts on 54 pitches (34 strikes).
Arkansas loaded up the bases with two outs on a single by Kuhio Aloy, a double by Kozeal and a walk by Helfrick. RHP Tanner Franklin was inserted on the mound in relief of Russell and forced Iredale to line out to left field to end the threat.
RHP Ben Bybee was brought out of the bullpen to relieve Carter to begin the top of the eighth. Carter recorded two outs while allowing just a walk with a strikeout on 17 pitches (eight strikes) in his 22 appearance of the year.
Arkansas rallied in the bottom of the eighth with a single by Robinett and a bunt single by Thomas to put runners on first and second. Davalan lined out to short, but a throwing error by Ariel Antigua allowed both runners to move into scoring position. Wehiwa Aloy plated both runners with a two-run single to left to cut the lead to two, 7-5.
Maxwell singled to right field with Wehiwa Aloy moving up to third to place runners on the corners. Kuhio Aloy plated his older brother with an RBI fielder's choice to short for the second out while decreasing the deficit to one. Kozeal popped out to short to end the rally.
LHP Hunter Dietz was brought out to relieve Bybee to begin the top of the ninth. Bybee tossed a scoreless inning while carving up two batters and allowing two walks on 20 pitches (11 strikes) in his 17th appearance of the season.
Chapman led off the inning with a single to right field, and Peebles took off with a two-run homer to left field to put the Volunteers back up by three. After giving up a single to Clark, Dietz was taken out of the game for RHP Christian Foutch after failing to record an out. After Marin struck out, Kilen grounded a single to right field with pinch runner Jay Abernathy moving over to third, who then scored on a throwing error by Maxwell to push the lead to four, 10-6, while Kilen sprinted to second base.
The Hogs would not go down too easily with Robinett reaching on a single to right center and advanced to second on a defensive indifference. Thomas drove him in with an RBI single to left field to pull Arkansas within three. Davalan grounded out near the mound to end the game.
The Razorbacks and the Volunteers will meet back up in Baum-Walker Stadium for the second game of the three-game series on Friday. The first pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+.