University of Tennessee Athletics
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Vol Baseball Falls to Georgia, 12-7
March 21, 2015 | Baseball
March 21, 2015
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Volunteers battled through five innings of one-hit baseball on Saturday and used a late rally to chase a three-run Georgia lead, but the Vols fell victim to multiple errors and allowed the Bulldogs a 12-7 win at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
On the mound, lefthander Drake Owenby (1-3) delivered a stellar start, holding the Bulldogs hitless into the fifth inning. Owenby went 7.0 innings against Georgia, allowing four runs (no earned runs) on four hits with seven strikeouts.
Georgia pushed three runs across in the sixth, sparked by back-to-back errors on Tennessee's Owenby and catcher David Houser following Bulldog sacrifice bunts. With a two-run advantage and a runner on first, Georgia's designated hitter Jared Walsh hit a triple to right-center field to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
"There are a lot of things that went wrong," Head Coach Dave Serrano said. "It's not just the errors. It's the passed balls, it's the things we're giving up at times that you can't give up if you want to be a successful team and a successful program."
Offensively, Tennessee put up seven hits against Georgia, led by designated hitter Andrew Lee (2-for-4, HR, 4 RBI). The Vols pushed one run across on the sixth, kickstarted by left fielder Christin Stewart reaching first base via walk with two outs. Senzel then reached first and moved Stewart to second on an infield hit up the middle. Lee then knocked an RBI-single through the right side of the infield to narrow the deficit to 3-1.
In the eighth, left-handed reliever Andy Cox entered the game for Owenby. For the second time, multiple defensive errors by the Vols gave Georgia another opportunity as the Bulldogs plated two runs to take a 5-1 lead entering the bottom of the eighth.
Tennessee put together a late rally in the inning when right fielder Brodie Leftridge beat out a strikeout-wild pitch throw at first. Stewart walked in the next at-bat before Lee came through again for the Vols, blasting a towering, three-run homer over the right field wall to make it a one-run ballgame at 5-4.
"We were excited. We had the momentum right there," Lee said. "We were ready to go out and win a baseball game and unfortunately we couldn't do that today."
Georgia came back to score seven runs in the ninth. Tennessee's Stewart later hit a three-run homer over the right-center wall in the bottom of the frame, the second three-run homer for UT in the contest, but the Vols' rally fell short in a 12-7 final.
"Five to four, we're right where we want to be and then they put a seven spot on the board," Serrano said. "It's not so much the seven spot. It's what we gave them to give them the seven spot."
Righthander Kyle Serrano (1-2) takes the mound on Sunday in the series finale between Tennessee and Georgia, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. ET at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
"The biggest game of the year is the next game," Owenby added. "So we'll come out and play as hard as we can."
For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee baseball, visit UTSports.com/Baseball and follow @Vol_Baseball on Twitter.
