Tennessee baseball drops Saturday matchup with Alabama
In Tuscaloosa on Saturday, Tennessee baseball did not have much luck.
The Vols evened the weekend series with a 6-3 loss against Alabama on Saturday.
Tennessee’s Drew Beam received the start in the mound, but his work will not show up on the stat sheet. In eight innings of work, Beam struck out six while giving up eight hits, five runs, and two walks. Not that Beam’s defense helped much.
When second baseman Christian Moore failed to grab Justin Lebron of Alabama, it was a prime example of the defensive blunders in the second inning. The next play, Lebron scored on a triple from Blake Elbin. Moore misdirected the ball, allowing Eblin to score.
That evening was just one of those.
Alabama scored two runs in the second inning after scoring one run on a groundout in the first. In the third, two walks and three singles gave the Crimson Tide three more runs.
Alabama’s two-out rally was completed with a single from Mac Guscette and a double from Lebron.
It took until the fourth inning for Tennessee to respond, when Robin Villenueve hit a solo home run. His first-ever SEC home run increased the score 6-1.
After the third inning, Beam became comfortable and started playing Alabama like his usual dominant self. Alabama remained silent, though, and Tennessee’s bats were unable to break through.
Moore atoned for his at-bat defensive gaffes. The second baseman had an excellent offensive night, going 4-for-5.
In the seventh he blasted a solo home run, and in the eighth Billy Amick was driven in by Dylan Dreiling, bringing the score to 6-3 entering the top of the nine.
Tennessee came back in the ninth with life, down to its final out. Blake Burke singled over the middle before Cannon Peebles reached base on error. To close the game, Amick popped out to middle infield.
On Sunday, Tennessee will play a rubber match that starts at 2:00 PM ET.