Tennessee Blows Late Lead at No. 19 LSU

Sunday, April 15

Baton Rouge, LA

5 P.M. ET

University of Tennessee

21-17, 5-10

#19 LSU

24-13, 9-6

Tennessee

LSU

April 15, 2018 | Baseball

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BATON ROUGE, La. – Tennessee was unable to hold on to a four-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 9-7 loss to No. 19 LSU on Sunday at Alex Box Stadium.

The Tigers scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth after entering the inning trailing 7-3. LSU was aided by two UT errors in the inning and won on a walk-off three-run homer by Daniel Cabrera.

The Volunteers were unable to capitalize on another great pitching performance from junior Will Neely, who gave up six runs – just three earned – in eight innings while striking out six.

Nico Mascia, Pete Derkay and Brodie Leftridge all had two hits and drove in runs for UT. Mascia had three RBI after hitting a three-run homer in the third inning.

For the first time in the series Tennessee opened the scoring. Mascia led off the second inning with a double and came around to score on a single up the middle by Derkay to give the Vols an early 1-0 lead.

Mascia put the Vols ahead 4-0 in the third with a monster three-run homer into the right-field bleachers. Justin Ammons and Andre Lipcius both singled with two outs to set the stage for the redshirt sophomore from Knoxville, who hammered the first pitch he saw for his fourth home run of the year and second of the series.

LSU got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Austin Bain scored on a passed ball with two outs to make it 4-1.

The Tigers put together a two-out rally in the fifth to cut their deficit to just one. Zach Watson was hit by a pitch and scored all the way from first on a double down the left-field line by Antoine Duplantis. Bain followed that with an RBI single to score Duplantis and make it a one-run game heading into the sixth.

The Vols were able to scratch across a run in the top of the seventh to make it a two-run game. With runners on first and second and one out, Lipcius chopped a ball back to the pitcher, who went to second to try and turn a double play. The throw was off target but caught by the LSU second basemen, who threw Lipcius out at first. However, some heads-up baserunning by Charleston allowed UT to score a run on the play. The sophomore never stopped running on the play and scored all the way from second to make it 5-3.

The Big Orange took advantage of a couple of Tigers' defensive miscues to add some more insurance in the top of the eighth. After a throwing error allowed Derkay to move into scoring position, Leftridge came through with a clutch RBI single to left field with two outs. Another LSU error later in the inning allowed Leftridge to score from third and give the Vols a four-run lead.

Pinch hitter Chris Reid reached on an error to start the ninth and scored on the Vols' second error of the inning two batters later to make it 7-4. That prompted a pitching change for Tennessee as Zach Linginfelter came in out of the bullpen. The sophomore hit a batter and then gave up a two-run double that cut the UT lead to just one.

Andrew Schultz then came on in relief and struck out Hunter Feduccia but gave up the deciding three-run blast to Cabrera one batter later.

With the loss, the Vols were swept for the second time this season and fell to 5-10 in conference play.

Notable
Mascia Mash
Redshirt Sophomore Nico continued his solid weekend with his fourth home run of the season and second of the series, hitting a three-run shot in the top of the third. The Knoxville native also had a double in today's game and finished the series with five hits, four runs scored and five RBI.

Next Up
The Vols finish a four-game road trip with a midweek contest at ETSU on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Fans can listen to the game live as John Wilkerson calls the action on Sports Radio WNML (FM 99.1 / AM 990).