No. 14 Tennessee dropped a tightly-contested battle at No. 3 Arkansas, 4-3, in game one of the NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional on Saturday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Dean Curley and
Andrew Fischer both homered to drive in the Vols' three runs, but the offense struggled overall against Razorbacks' starter Zach Root, who earned the win after allowing just two runs on one hit over seven innings.
Marcus Phillips put forth a gritty effort on the mound for Tennessee (46-18), striking out five over 5.1 innings but was stuck with the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks.
Arkansas (47-13) opened the scoring in the second inning when Cam Kozeal raced home from third on a wild pitch.
The Big Orange responded and took their only lead of the game in the top of the fifth after
Dalton Bargo reached on a hard-hit line drive that was ruled an error to lead off the inning before Curley launched his 14
th long ball of the year over the left-center field fence to make it 2-1.
The Hogs responded immediately with a two-run homer of their own in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead before adding another insurance run in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead.
The relief duo of
Brandon Arvidson and
Tanner Franklin combined for 2.1 scoreless frames to keep the Vols within striking distance as they entered the ninth inning trailing by two runs.
Fischer hammered a 2-0 pitch over the right-field wall for his 25
th homer of the year with one out in the top of the ninth to cut the deficit to a run, but Gabe Gaeckle got a groundout and a strikeout to secure his second save and end the UT comeback bid.
Up Next
Sunday's game is a must win for Tennessee as it'll look to keep its season alive and force a decisive game three on Monday.
First pitch between the Vols and Razorbacks is set for 3 p.m. (ET) on Sunday afternoon on ESPN.