University of Tennessee
Kentucky
#12 Kentucky Outlasts Tennessee, 5-4
April 02, 2016 | Baseball
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --Tennessee battled through a back-and-forth Saturday contest against No. 12-ranked Kentucky, but the Wildcats used a late-inning rally to move past the Volunteers, 5-4, and even the three-game series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
One day after posting 14 runs on 15 hits against the Wildcats (19-8, 5-3 SEC), Tennessee's (17-10, 3-5 SEC) offense combined for seven base knocks on Saturday against UK righthander Dustin Beggs' 8.0 inning effort.
In his seventh start of the year, lefty Zach Warren tossed 7.1 innings against the Wildcats, allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits while striking out four batters for his second loss of the season.
The teams held each other scoreless until the fifth, when Kentucky took advantage of a fielding error by Warren and plated one run to take a 1-0 lead.
Tennessee responded in the sixth, after Benito Santiago (1-for-4) and Chris Hall (1-for-4) reached on back-to-back base hits with one out. Nick Senzel (2-for-4, 2 RBI) then cranked a two-run double into the right-center gap to bring the runners home and give UT the go-ahead 2-1 advantage.
Kentucky answered and scored another run in the seventh, tying the game at 2-2 before the Cats came back to scratch three runs across in the eighth. After back-to-back doubles to begin the frame, the Cats loaded the bases and scored twice more to further their lead to 5-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, Senzel and Vincent Jackson (1-for-4, RBI) combined for back-to-back doubles and Leno Ramirez (2-for-4, RBI) scored Jackson on a hit down the left field line. Tennessee would score two runs in the frame and put the tying run just 90 feet away on third, but a ground ball to first base made three outs to preserve UK's 5-4 win.
In relief, the Vols went to senior Steven Kane and lefty Zach Reid in the eighth. Each allowed one run before junior Hunter Martin took the mound. Martin worked 1.1 scoreless frames and allowed just two hits in his first outing since March 12 vs. UC Irvine.
Vol Baseball Quick Hits
- With the loss on Saturday, Tennessee (17-10) moves to 156-136 in its all-time series vs. Kentucky and is now 3-5 in SEC play this year.
- Sophomore Zach Warren established a new career high for innings pitched with 7.1 vs. Kentucky, surpassing his previous high of 6.2 innings set at East Carolina earlier this year.
- With his two-run double in the sixth, Nick Senzel has now reached base safely in 16 straight games dating back to March 8 vs. Western Kentucky.
- Saturday's attendance at Lindsey Nelson Stadium: 2,827
- Up Next for the Vols: Tennessee's series finale vs. No. 12-ranked Kentucky begins on Sunday, April 3 at 2 p.m. ET. Senior lefty Andy Cox (2-2, 7.31) gets the nod against Wildcats righthander Kyle Cody (2-1, 6.43).
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