University of Tennessee
Missouri
Tennessee Falls, 8-3, to Missouri Tigers
April 10, 2015 | Baseball
Photo Gallery 
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Volunteers came out strong on Friday night and took an early two-run lead against No. 23-ranked Missouri, but the Tigers came back to plate six runs in the fifth and take an 8-3 decision at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
With the loss, the Volunteers move to a 15-15 overall record and are now 5-9 in SEC competition, while Missouri (23-12) improves to 9-5 in conference play.
"It's kind of like what Andy [Cox] did last night, good pitchers make good pitches at big times," Head Coach Dave Serrano said. "I thought their guy made some big pitches at big times and we didn't do a good enough job fighting them off to get to another opportunity. They played better baseball than us, they played clean baseball tonight and they were deserving of the win. Now we get another opportunity with the scoreboard at 0-0 tomorrow night to win the series."
Tennessee's bats produced nine hits on Missouri in Game Two of the series, led by sophomore Nick Senzel (2-for-3) and junior Derek Lance (3-for-4).
The Vols gained a one-run lead in the first, which began with a leadoff triple to right-center field by second baseman Senzel. Shortstop A.J. Simcox then grounded out to short, but provided the chance for Senzel to score from third for the RBI.
The middle of the order fashioned another insurance run in the second, as left fielder Lance roped a leadoff single to left. Lance then stole second and came around to score on an RBI-double to right-center field by third baseman Jared Pruett.
Despite the early jump, Tennessee starter Bret Marks' outing ended in the fifth, when Missouri used six hits to push six runs across in the top of the frame, a rally that included a three-run home run to right-center field by Tigers center fielder Jake Ring. In his ninth start of the year, Marks (4-4) allowed a total of six runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts to take the loss.
"It was kind of a mystery, he was cruising like Bret Marks does," Serrano said. "I look back at that inning, I think all nine hitters had 1-0 counts, and that's not what Bret does. Bret's a strike thrower early in the count. I thought they hit some good pitches and they hit some bad pitches off of him."
"In the fifth I got behind guys and then they knew fastballs where coming," Marks said. "It doesn't matter if I'm throwing 99 or 59 miles per hour, you know fastballs are coming and it's got to be a strike. They are going to put good swings on the ball and that's what they did."
First baseman Andrew Lee and pinch-hitter Jordan Rodgers chipped away at Mizzou's lead in the bottom of the sixth, making it a 7-3 ballgame. Lee hit a standup double to right-center and was sent home on a sacrifice fly ball to center by Rodgers.
In relief, righthander Hunter Martin threw 3.1 innings and recorded five strikeouts, his first appearance in relief since March 22 against the Georgia Bulldogs. Lefty Aaron Soto entered the game in the ninth, inheriting runners on first and third with one out, but the Mizzou threat was minimized by Lee, who made a diving snag at first base to turn a double play and end the inning.
Combined with Marks' eight strikeouts earlier in the game, Tennessee's staff collected 13 punchouts against Mizzou, marking the second straight game for UT's staff to record 10-plus strikeouts against the Tigers.
The rubber match of Tennessee's three game series against Missouri begins Saturday, April 11 at 12 p.m. ET at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Left-handed junior Drake Owenby (2-3) gets the starting nod while the series finale will be broadcast live on SEC Network television.
For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee baseball, visit UTSports.com/Baseball and follow @Vol_Baseball on Twitter.
