ATHENS, Ga. — No. 10 Tennessee was unable to hang on to a late lead, falling 5-4 to No. 7 Georgia on Saturday afternoon at Foley Field in Athens.
A walk-off two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth gave the Bulldogs their first SEC win of the year and evened the series at one game apiece. Tate drove in three of UGA’s five runs for the game.
Liam Spence was once again the Vols’ top hitter with two hits and two runs scored. Jake Rucker led the team with two RBI after hitting a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the seventh.
Senior pitcher Will Heflin got the start and gave Tennessee 3.1 solid innings before turning it over to the bullpen. Heflin allowed one run and had two strikeouts on the day.
For the second day in a row, the Vols (16-4 // 1-1 SEC) struck first with a pair of runs in the first inning. Spence reached on an error to start the game and Pete Derkay followed with a double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Drew Gilbert singled two batters later to score Spence before Derkay came in to score on a walk by Luc Lipcius to make it 2-0.
The Bulldogs (14-4 // 1-1 SEC) pulled within one on a sacrifice fly from Tate in the third that scored Shane Marshall, who led off the inning with a single.
After a missed opportunity for the Vols to add to their lead in the fifth, Georgia put together a two-out rally to score two runs in the sixth and take its first lead off the series.
Tennessee responded immediately with two runs of its own in the seventh to retake the lead. Spence continued his big weekend with a single to lead things off before Rucker hit a two-run blast to left field to put the Vols ahead 4-3. It was the second homer of the series for Rucker after hitting a grand slam in Friday’s 11-6 win.
Closer Redmond Walsh was able to strand the tying run on base to end the eighth but surrendered two unearned runs in the ninth to pick up his first loss of the year.
Georgia’s first two batters reached base to start the inning after an infield single and a throwing error by Walsh on a sacrifice bunt attempt. A groundout by Marshall advanced both runners into scoring position, but Ben Anderson popped up for out No. 2. However, Tate’s single one batter later scored both runners to end the game.
The Vols will look to win the series in tomorrow’s rubber game. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.
NOTABLE
Another Big Hit for Jake: During his three seasons with UT, junior third baseman Jake Rucker has shown a propensity for coming up with the big hit. The Greenbrier, Tennessee, native came up clutch once again on Saturday with a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh right after Georgia had taken a one run lead an inning earlier. It was the second home run of the series for Rucker and his third of the season.
Spence Keeps Hitting: With two more hits on Saturday, senior shortstop Liam Spence extended his on-base streak to 23 consecutive games. The Australian has a hit in 11 of his last 13 contests and is 5-for-9 with five runs, a homer, two walks and four RBI so far in the series.
Box Score (PDF) | Vitello Postgame Interview
-UT Athletics
