No. 12/17 Tennessee fell to No. 5/8 Arkansas, 8-6, in a back-and-forth battle on Friday night at sold-out Baum-Walker Stadium to set up a rubber game in Saturday afternoon's regular-season finale.
The Volunteers (41-14, 16-13 SEC) finished with double-digit hits for the fifth straight game but also left 10 runners on base. That, along with a fifth-inning error, proved costly for the Big Orange.
UT had a pair of early leads, but an uncharacteristically tough day for starter
Liam Doyle was too much to overcome against one of the country's best lineups.
Doyle posted his seventh double-digit strikeout performance but gave up a season-high eight runs (six earned) on 11 hits in 4.2 innings to fall to 9-3 on the year.
Cannon Peebles plated the game's first run with a two-out RBI single in the top of the second inning, but the Razorbacks responded immediately with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-1 lead.
Tennessee punched right back with three runs of its own in the top of the third, getting RBI hits from
Dalton Bargo and Peebles, who finished with a game-high three RBIs on the night.
Arkansas (42-12, 19-10 SEC) took the lead right back with a two-run homer from Ryder Helfrick in the bottom of the third and extended its advantage with a solo shot from Logan Maxwell in the fourth inning.
The biggest blow, however, came in the fifth when the Hogs scored their final two runs of the game after a throwing error with two outs resulted in a run and extended the inning, allowing for another RBI single to give Arkansas a four-run lead.
Levi Clark went deep in the seventh to cut the deficit to two, but his two-run homer was the final runs UT would score on the night.
The Big Orange had the tying run on base in the eighth but grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the threat.
Dean Curley, who had another multi-hit game, drew a one-out walk in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but Razorbacks' reliever Christian Foutch struck out
Reese Chapman and got Clark to fly out to center field to slam the door and earn his fourth save.
The Vols' bullpen held the Hogs scoreless over their final three innings of at-bats as
Austin Breedlove,
Brandon Arvidson and
Tanner Franklin combined for 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball while allowing just two hits over that span.
Doyle Continues Chase for Strikeout Record
Despite his disappointing outing, Doyle moved into a tie for third on UT's single-season strikeouts list after punching out 10 Razorbacks on Friday night.
His 137 strikeouts on the year have matched Vols' legend R.A. Dickey's total from 1996. Doyle is just 17 strikeouts shy of Luke Hochevar's single-season program record of 154 in 2005.
Another Productive Night for Fisch
Junior first baseman
Andrew Fischer continued his hot streak with a three-hit night, including a pair of doubles and a run scored. The New Jersey native has now reached base safely in all 55 games this season.
Up Next
Tennessee will play its seventh straight rubber game when it faces off against Arkansas in Saturday's series finale, which will begin at 3 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.