Tennessee baseball bullpen melts down as Evansville forces super regional Game 3
Evansville's Kip Fougerousse stood on second waiting for the inevitable.
His two-run homer that was initially ruled a double was rightly overturned, and Tennessee baseball was reeling under a volley of two-out runs and homers in the middle innings Saturday.
There will be a Game 3 in the Knoxville Super Regional after Tennessee's ninth-inning rally fell short in a 10-8 loss at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Evansville scored seven two-out runs and slugged three homers a day after Tennessee's two-out success led to an 11-6 Vols win in the opener.
No. 1 Tennessee (54-12) and Evansville (39-25) will play Sunday (6 p.m. ET, ESPNU).
Tennessee baseball's bullpen melted down
Drew Beam cruised through 3⅓ innings before a rocky fourth. It unraveled in the fifth as the Purple Aces chased Beam with a pair of singles after he got within an out of escaping a jam. Kirby Connell gave up a double. Tennessee coach Tony Vitello turned to Nate Snead, who gave up back-to-back run-scoring singles to make it a 6-5 Evansville lead.
Tennessee wasted its chance to respond in the sixth as Billy Amick struck out with two on and Dylan Dreiling grounded out to end the inning that required a review.
Evansville scored four more in the bottom of the sixth on a pair of two-run homers as the bullpen struggled mightily in the middle innings. Connell gave up a hit and a run without recording an out. Snead had one of his worst outings this season, allowing three runs on four hits in one inning, and Evansville hit everything he threw hard.
Andrew Behnke came in and allowed the two-run homer to Fougerousse.
Tennessee baseball made it interesting in the ninth inning
Tennessee trailed 10-5 going into the ninth and hadn't had a hit since the fifth.
Blake Burke led off with a walk before Amick softly singled to right on an 0-2 pitch. Dreiling walked before Hunter Ensley's shot fell just feet shy of a grand slam, hitting a single off the centerfield wall. Kavares Tears walked in a run to make it a 10-7 game. Dean Curley hit a sacrifice fly to left to pull UT within 10-8.
Cannon Peebles worked a pinch-hit walk after falling behind 0-2. Cal Stark struck out on three pitches. Christian Moore flew out to right to end the game with the bases loaded.
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Tennessee baseball had a blistering beginning
Burke bashed a first-inning homer for the second straight game, blasting the second pitch he saw out to left-center.
Dreiling crushed a 2-2 pitch to deep right-center for another solo homer. Ensley slugged the third solo homer of the first inning three pitches later to put Tennessee ahead 3-0.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball bullpen melts down vs. Evansville; Game 3 on Sunday