Vols Drop Midweek Contest to ETSU

Tuesday, March 20

Knoxville

5 P.M. ET

University of Tennessee

13-9

ETSU

11-6

ETSU

Tennessee

Photo by: Austin Perryman/Tennessee Athletics

March 20, 2018 | Baseball

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee jumped out to an early lead against in-state foe East Tennessee State, but was unable to hold on in a 9-6 loss to the Bucs on Tuesday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Despite the loss, sophomore Jay Charleston had a career night at the plate for the Volunteers, setting a new career high with four hits. The Florida native also scored a run and had two RBI.

Freshman starting pitcher Sean Hunley had his streak of 22.2 consecutive scoreless innings snapped in the third inning when Jackson Greer hit a two-run homer to left field. Hunley gave up three runs, walked three and struck out five in 4.1 innings of work.

Greer and shortstop Chris Cook drove in two runs apiece for ETSU while Christian Bailey had three hits and Hunter Parker scored four runs to lead the Bucs' high-powered attack. Five ETSU players finished the game with multiple hits.

After a 1-2-3 inning by Hunley in the top of the first, the Vols struck for four runs in the bottom of the inning. Andre Lipcius drove in Charleston with an RBI single and freshman Brandon Trammell made it 4-0 with a three-run homer to left field a few batters later.

The Buccaneers cut UT's lead in half with Greer's two-run shot in the third inning and drew within one run after scoring again in the fourth inning.

Brodie Leftridge reached on an error by ETSU third baseman Cade Gilbert to extend the fourth inning and UT made the Bucs pay as Charleston doubled off the wall in left field to score Leftridge from first and give the Vols a 5-3 lead.

The Bucs tied the game at five on a pair of RBI singles by Ben Jackson and Bailey in the top if the sixth. ETSU went on to load the bases but Will Heflin recorded back-to-back strikeouts to keep the game tied.

It didn't take long for the Big Orange to retake the lead as Charleston continued his career day with an RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the sixth to put UT back on top, 6-5.

ETSU battled back again, however, and took its first lead of the game at 9-6 after scoring four runs in the top of the seventh. Cook drove in the tying run with an RBI single and then the Bucs were aided by a host of defensive miscues by the Vols, scoring three unearned runs without registering a hit.

Tennessee was unable to rally after falling behind despite freshman Chase Wallace holding the Bucs scoreless over the final two innings.

Heflin was stuck with the loss for UT after giving up five runs (two earned) in two innings of work, while Bucs' reliever James Giambalvo improved to 2-0 on the year after tossing two scoreless innings.

Notables
Charleston's Big Day
Tennessee sophomore Jay Charleston had a career day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored. The four hits set a new career high for the Longwood, Fla., native, breaking his previous best of three which he set last year against Norfolk State and tied earlier this season against none other than ETSU.

Next Up
Tennessee hosts Alabama for its SEC home opening series this weekend at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Friday's series opener between the Vols and Crimson Tide is slated for a 6:30 p.m. ET first pitch and will be streamed live on SEC Network + (WatchESPN). Saturday and Sunday's games will feature live TV broadcasts on the SEC Network. Fans can also listen to all three games on Sports Radio WNML (FM 99.1 / AM 990) and UTSports.com.