AUBURN, Ala. – No. 21 Tennessee couldn’t hold on to a late lead and dropped the series finale against No. 15 Auburn in a back-and-forth affair Sunday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally from a 3-2 deficit and secure the series sweep with a 5-3 victory. UT had just taken the lead in the top of the eighth with a solo home run off the bat of Alerick Soularie, his team-leading seventh of the season.
Soularie went 2-for-4 with two runs and a walk on the afternoon to lead the Vols at the plate. Ricky Martinez (3-for-4) and freshman Max Ferguson (2-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB) also had multi-hit performances as the Big Orange cranked out 10 hits, by far the most of any game in the series.
Senior pitcher Will Neely got the start and had a decent outing, giving up two runs on two hits while striking out three before being lifted for sophomore lefty Garrett Crochet with one out and two runners on in the fifth. Crochet was stuck with the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits over 3.1 innings of relief.
A two-out rally in the top of the third put the Volunteers up 1-0. Ferguson, making his first start of the series, tripled off the wall in right center and scored on a single up the middle from Justin Ammons to give UT an early lead for the second day in a row.
UT added to its lead with a run in the fourth after a throwing error by Auburn catcher Matt Scheffler allowed Soularie to score from third. Soularie led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to third on a two-out single by Martinez before scoring to put the Vols ahead 2-0.
The Big Orange missed out on a great chance to pad their lead in the top of the fifth. A single and a pair of walks loaded the bases with one out for UT, but Soularie lined a ball back at pitcher Cody Greenhill, who made the catch and doubled off Andre Lipcius at first base to escape the jam unscathed.
Auburn carried that momentum into the bottom of the inning, scoring a pair of runs to tie the game at two. Conor Davis doubled to lead off the frame and scored on an RBI ground out by Judd Ward to cut the deficit to one. An infield single by Scheffler one batter later scored Kason Howell from third to tie the game at two.
It looked like the Vols were going to retake the lead in the top of the seventh, but Howell made an incredible diving catch in deep right-center field to rob Lipcius of an RBI and extra bases.
UT countered with an unreal defensive play of its own in the bottom of the inning to keep the game tied. With a runner on second and one out, Martinez made a leaping grab on a hard-hit line drive by Ward and quickly flipped the ball to second to double up Howell to end the inning.
The Orange and White capitalized on the momentum shift with a solo blast by Soularie to lead off the eighth inning. The sophomore crushed a 1-0 pitch over the tall wall in left field to put the Vols back on top, 3-2.
The Tigers took advantage of a leadoff walk and a pair of singles to take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the eighth. The big hit came off the bat of Edouard Julien as he singled to left field with two outs to bring in two runs and give Auburn it’s first lead of the afternoon. A throwing error by Martinez allowed a third run to score in the inning and gave the Tigers a two-run cushion heading into the ninth.
Tennessee put together a two-out rally to load the bases in the top of the ninth, but a ground out to second base ended the game and secured the series sweep for Auburn. Redshirt junior left hander Kyle Gray earned his first victory of the year for the Tigers after tossing the final 1.2 innings.
NOTABLE
SOULARIE GOES DEEP TO CAP SOLID WEEKEND: Sophomore newcomer Alerick Soularie was one of Tennessee’s bright spots offensively over the weekend. The Houston, Texas native had two hits and scored twice in Sunday’s loss. His lead-off solo home run in the top of the eighth gave the Vols a 3-2 lead. Soularie led UT with a .333 batting average, four hits, two runs and two RBI for the series.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Missed opportunities seemed to be the theme of Sunday’s game as the Vols left 11 runners on base. Tennessee left runners on base in the last seven innings of the game and stranded multiple runners on base three times, including leaving the bases loaded in the ninth.
UP NEXT: The Vols will look to get back on track against in-state foe ETSU on Tuesday night in Johnson City. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET and fans can listen to John Wilkerson call the action on the Vol Network radio broadcast (AM 990).
Box Score (PDF) | Season Stats (PDF) | SEC Stats (PDF)
-UT Athletics
