Tennessee swings and misses on the sweep, the Vanderbilt pitching staff strikes out 14 and holds the UT offense to just three hits in Vandy’s 3-0 win.

Tennessee’s bats had no answers for Vanderbilt’s complement of pitchers, as the bats went scoreless with just Three hits were allowed in the Commodores’ 3-0 victory, which denied the Vols a chance to sweep the series despite six scoreless innings pitched by the bullpen pitchers.

Beginning for the Commodores, Zander Sechrist struck out the first two hitters he faced and appeared to be cruising to an easy, 1-2-3 start to the game. Meanwhile, opener for the Vols, JD Thompson, sat Tennessee’s bats down in order to strike out the side.

But RJ Austin needed four pitches to punch a single into right field, and cleanup hitter Alan Espinal blasted the Vandy jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when he drove the first ball he saw over the fence in right field, good for a double.

Sechrist recorded his third strikeout of the first inning as he closed the half inning, but the offense failed to support him in the top of the second. Hunter Ensley hit a ground ball that resulted in a 4-3 double play, mirroring the play from yesterday’s game when a Vandy hitter smoked a ball straight to Christian Moore at second who doubled off the man at first who had strayed too far from first base. Thompson gave up a single to Dylan Dreiling with one out.

A single led off the B2, then Sechrist got an out before he gave up a four-pitch walk to put two men on with just one out. Tennessee’s long-time midweek starter got another out but then served up a pitch that went for a run-scoring single. Again, Sechrist got the final out, this time on a first-pitch ground out, to strand two runners and maintain the Vandy lead at 3-0, which usually leaves little room for error against this Volunteer offensive.

In the top of the third, Robin Villeneuve walked with one out to give the Vols their second base runner. Thompson promptly put Cal Stark and Christian Moore on 0-2 counts, ending the top half of the first with a strikeout and a flyball-out, respectively.

Snead took the ball in the bottom half of the inning and, despite a double with one out, he only faced four batters, did not allow the Commodores to extend their lead, and recorded a strikeout on a full-count, 97 mph fastball..

Snead allowed two-straight infield singles to lead off the bottom of the fourth, and then a two-out walk that left the bases full of Commodores. But a nice play from Snead to beat the runner to first while Burke fielded the ball got the final out, and the Vols dodged a bullet with the VU leaving three men on base.

After working through the sixth and into the seventh, when Tim Corbin pulled him in favor of Devin Futrell, who has spent the majority of his career as a starter and has a career ERA of 3.83, Thompson gave up a single to Dreiling and a hit batter, Hunter Ensley. Despite battling ailments this season, he had no issue getting through the Vols lineup with a wicked changeup as his main weapon.

With just six outs left for the Vols, Futrell stranded two runners on base by striking out Curely, Peebles, and Stark. After pitching 7 IP, the Vanderbilt pitchers had already given up just 2 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, and 12 strikeouts.

After Vanderbilt scored three runs early on, the Tennessee pitchers held their own until Nate Snead entered the game and settled things down with 4.1 IP, 5 H 0 R, 3 BB, and 4 Ks.

Vitello removed Snead in favor of lefty Andrew Behnke, the sophomore, with one out in the B7. Behnke had a 3.57 ERA, 24 strikeouts, and just four walks in 14 outings before today’s game.

Behnke ended the bottom half of the inning with a fly-ball out and a strikeout.

In the eighth inning, Futrell faced the top of the lineup and got Moore, Blake Burke, and Billy Amick to fly out on eight pitches between them.

In the ninth, Futrell K’d. Tears, going to his fastball with some pinpoint accuracy. Dreiling managed a single on an 0-1 pitch, which was the third hit of the day for Dreiling, who, to this point, had every hit for the Vols’ offense. Hensley reached on a fielder’s choice, but Curley was hit by a steady diet of fastballs and changeups before he struck out looking. Vandy got the lead runner.

Moore, Burke, Amick, and Kavares Tears combined for a score of 0–15 with six strikeouts during the contest.

With the loss on Sunday, Tennessee lost its first shutout of the season, snapped the Vols’ four-game winning streak, and dropped to a half-game behind Kentucky in the SEC rankings. With just three extra-base hits, the UT pitching staff of Secrhrist, Snead, Behnke, and Connell combined for 8 IP, 3 RBI, 2 BB, and 8 strikeouts was strong enough to win tonight.

However, Vandy’s pitching was superior, and the offense failed to capitalize on its chances. With two outs, Tennessee’s bats went 0-8. They then vanished into a 0-13 game with runners on base, and their leadoff hitters were limited to only 2-9 at the plate.

First pitch is set for 5 PM EST on Tuesday, when Tennessee returns to LNS for its last midweek game of the season against Belmont, having already won two of three games against Vanderbilt. The South Carolina Gamecocks will visit town for the final weekend series; kickoff is scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 PM EST. USC is only 13-14 in SEC play, but overall they are 33-18.