Vols' Comeback Comes Up Just Short in Loss to No. 21 Tennessee Tech

Wednesday, April 25

Knoxville

5 P.M. ET

University of Tennessee

24-19

#21 Tennessee Tech

35-5

Tennessee Tech

Tennessee

Vols' Comeback Comes Up Just Short in Loss to No. 21 Tennessee Tech

April 25, 2018 | Baseball

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee's comeback attempt fell just short on Wednesday night against No. 21 Tennessee Tech as the Golden Eagles held on for a 7-6 win to extend their nation-leading winning streak to 26 straight games.

A two-run homer by freshman Zach Daniels in the bottom of the seventh inning cut the Volunteers' deficit to one run, but TTU junior closer Ethan Roberts held UT scoreless for the final two innings to shut the door for his 10^th save of the season.

Daniels led the Vols with two RBI and a pair of runs scored while Andre Lipcius and Benito Santiago chipped in with two hits apiece.

Sophomore right hander Zach Linginfelter was solid out of the bullpen for the Big Orange, tying a career-high with eight strikeouts in just four innings of work. Vols' start Will Heflin was stuck with the loss after giving up three runs on five hits in four innings pitched.

Junior right fielder Nick Osborne was the driving force behind the Golden Eagles' attack all night, going a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with two home runs and four RBI.

Tennessee Tech put together a two-out rally to plate the game's first run in the top of the second. Back-to-back singles put runners on first and second for Collin Harris, who singled through the right side to score Osborne and put TTU ahead 1-0. Heflin was able to get Trevor Putzig to fly out to left field two batters later to strand the bases loaded and limit the damage.

Tech added to its lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. After a leadoff walk to David Garza, Osborne lined a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left field to put the Golden Eagles up 3-0.

The Vols scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to get on the board and cut their deficit to one run. Wyatt Stapp drove in Daniels with an RBI ground out and Jay Charleston singled to center field to plate Santiago after he reached on a single earlier in the inning.

The Golden Eagles responded immediately with three runs of their own in the top of the fifth. John Ham drove in the first run of the inning with a double to the gap in right center before scoring on a mammoth two-run homer to left field by Osborne to make it 6-2.

The Big Orange answered back in the bottom of the fifth with two more runs to cut the TTU lead to 6-4. Pete Derkay led off the inning with a double and came around to score on another double by Evan Russell. The Golden Eagles looked to be out of the inning with a double play but the throw to first got away and allowed Russell to score.

After a hit batter and a walk put runners on first and second for Chase Chambers in the sixth, he delivered with a single up the middle to plate a run and increase the Golden Eagles' lead to 7-4.

Tennessee pulled within one once again in the bottom of the seventh courtesy of a two-run homer off the bat of Daniels. It was the fifth home run of the year for the freshman, who lined the first pitch he saw over the right-field wall to make it 7-6.

Lipcius was hit by a pitch to put the tying run on base in the bottom of the ninth but Roberts was able to get Russell to fly out and Daniels to strike out to end the game.

Notable
The Zach Attack
Both Zach Daniels and Zach Linginfelter had solid nights for Tennessee on Wednesday. Daniels hit his fifth home run of the year to bring the Vols within one run heading into the eighth, while Linginfelter tied a career high with eight strikeouts in just four innings of work out of the bullpen.

Next Up
Tennessee hits the road this weekend to take on No. 13 Georgia in Athens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All three games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ (WatchESPN) and feature a live radio broadcast on Sports Radio WNML (FM 99.1 / AM 990).