No. 14 Texas A&M Evens Series with 8-3 Win

Saturday, April 21

Knoxville

6 P.M. ET

University of Tennessee

23-18, 6-11

#14 Texas A&M

29-10, 9-8

Texas A&M

Tennessee

Photo by: Alison P. McNabb\Tennessee Athletics

April 21, 2018 | Baseball

Box Score Highlights Postgame Media Photo Gallery PDF Box Score Postgame Quotes

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 14 Texas A&M scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back in an 8-3 win on Saturday night to even the weekend series with Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

After falling behind 5-0 in the top of the first, the Volunteers were never able to get the bats going against Aggies' starter John Doxakis, who gave up just four hits in seven shutout innings to improve to 6-1 on the year.

UT sophomore Garrett Stallings was able to settle in after the rough first inning but was stuck with the loss after giving up six earned runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings of work.

Pete Derkay continued to swing a hot bat for the Vols, finishing with two of the team's six total hits on the night. The sophomore from Acworth, Ga., has recorded a hit in five straight games and nine of the past 10. Jay Charleston also had a good night at the plate, driving in two of Tennessee's three runs while picking up a pair of hits.

After jumping out to an early lead in game one on Friday, the Vols found themselves in a hole to start Saturday's contest after surrendering five runs in the top of the first inning. The Aggies used five hits and an error to build a 5-0 lead after just half an inning of play.

Two more errors by UT allowed the Aggies to add another run to their lead in the third, giving them a 6-0 advantage.

After retiring the first two batters, Stallings ran into some more trouble in the sixth inning. Logan Foster reached on a double and Braden Shewmake was hit by a pitch to put two on for Hunter Coleman, who doubled to left field to score both runners and chase Stallings from the game.

Tennessee was able to break up the shutout with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. Charleston drove in Benito Santiago with a single to center field before Luc Lipcius scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of his brother Andre Lipcius to cut the Aggies lead to 8-2 heading into the ninth.

The Big Orange didn't go down easily in the ninth, scoring a run on a bases-loaded walk by Charleston before Texas A&M closer Nolan Hoffman came in to retire the final two batters to close the door.

Notable
Derkay Extends Hit Streak
UT sophomore first baseman Pete Derkay was one of the few Vols to find success against TAMU starter John Doxakis, finishing with a pair of hits on the night. With his two base knocks Derkay now has four hits in the series and extended his hitting streak to five games. He has recorded a hit in nine of his last 10 contests and has five multi-hit games in that span.

Next Up
First pitch for the rubber game between the Vols and Aggies will be at 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. The game will be streamed live online via SEC Network+ (WatchESPN) and will also be broadcast on Sports Radio WNML (FM 99.1 / AM 990).