Tennessee Topped by Western Kentucky, 6-0

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Volunteers struggled to find a rhythm on Tuesday night, as the visiting Western Kentucky Hilltoppers capitalized on an early lead and ran away with a 6-0 victory over UT at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

With the loss, Tennessee moves to 7-4 on the season and 5-4 in their all-time series against Western Kentucky.

Western Kentucky (8-4) put together a two-out rally in the second inning to strike first and move ahead of UT, 2-0. Starter Daniel Vasquez and the Vols retired the first two batters in the frame before WKU scored two runs on four-straight hits. The Hilltoppers then took advantage of two defensive miscues by Tennessee to plate two more runs in the third, furthering their lead to 4-0.

Western Kentucky used three outfield hits to push one run across in the sixth and gained an insurance
run in the eighth on an RBI-double from designated hitter Harrison Scanlon, making it a 6-0 ballgame in favor of WKU.

The Volunteers combined for five hits against the Hilltoppers, led by senior Chris Hall (2-for-4). Second baseman Jeff Moberg (1-for-3), first baseman Jordan Rodgers (1-for-3) and freshman catcher Sean Skelly (1-for-1) each contributed base hits in the Vols' effort.

In his second start of the year for the Volunteers, Vasquez surrendered four runs (two earned) on six hits over 2.2 innings pitched. Righthander Eric Freeman entered in the third and worked 2.2 innings before UT used Zach Reid (0.1), Will Neely (1.0) and Richard Jackson (2.1) in relief.

"We've got to get the pitching turned around and it's going to make the offense a lot easier to play," Head Coach Dave Serrano said. ""I think we are resilient. I think we hit a little bit of a skid. I don't doubt what we have here. I know what we have here, but I also know what we need to fix for us to be consistently better day in and day out."

Vol Baseball Quick Hits

• Senior right fielder Chris Hall (2-for-4) extended his current hit streak to 11 games.
• Shortstop Jared Pruett (0-for-3) and catcher Sean Skelly (1-for-1) made their first starts of the season vs. Western Kentucky.
• With an infield single to the left side in the fifth inning, Sean Skelly recorded his first collegiate base hit.
• Tuesday's attendance at Lindsey Nelson Stadium: 1,787
• Up Next for the Vols: The Volunteers hit the road to visit ETSU on Wednesday, March 9, with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. ET, before hosting UC Irvine in UT's first home weekend series from Friday, March 11 - Sunday, March 13 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

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