Vols Fall in Doubleheader finale against UCI, 2-0

Saturday, March 12

Knoxville

3:30 PM

University of Tennessee

10-5

UC Irvine

10-6

UC Irvine

Tennessee

March 12, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

March 12, 2016

Box Score | Photos

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- After winning the first game of Saturday's doubleheader 14-4 against UC Irvine, Tennessee fell in the second half of the twin bill, 2-0, at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

UC Irvine (10-6) scored the only runs of the game in the third inning as they pushed two runs across the plate. Mitchell Holland hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield with the bases loaded and Cole Kreuter singled back up the middle to give the Anteaters all the scoring they would need.

The Vols were close to getting on the board in the fourth inning, as Tyler Schultz walked with two outs. Matt Waldren then doubled into the leftfield corner, but Schultz was thrown out at the plate trying to score.

Chris Hall singled up the middle and Nick Senzel walked to put runners on first and second in the eighth inning with two outs, but Vincent Jackson flied out to left to end another Volunteer threat.

After Andy Cox and Steven Kane pitched 8.2 innings of standout relief in game one of the doubleheader, the bullpen tandem of Eric Freeman and Jon Lipinski combined to pitch 5.1 innings while only allowing two hits and striking out seven in game two. Starter Daniel Vazquez (1-2) took the loss as he allowed two runs while striking out three in 3.2 innings of work.

Cameron Bishop earned the win for UC Irvine as he pitched 6.2 innings of shutout baseball. Ben Ritchey and Dylan Riddle provided 1.1 innings of relief to get the ball to Calvin Faucher who saved his third game of the year by working a scoreless ninth. The Vols scattered seven hits in the game.

"I thought that Bishop was really good. In fact if you break down what was seen during their starting rotation, he was by far their best guy," Head Coach Dave Serrano said. "He really kept us off balance and pitched down on the string. His fastballs had good angles and mix that with the breaking ball that we were swinging over. He just kept us at bay.

"I thought our bats got better later and we had bases loaded with no outs. When you lose a game, two to nothing and you don't touch the baseball or score a run in that inning that probably hurt us in the end. You have to tip your hat to them because we beat them pretty good for two games and that shows character, leadership, and experience from that program to come back at the end of a doubleheader and shut down a pretty good offensive team."

Vol Baseball Quick Hits

With the loss, Tennessee now moves to 3-3 in the all-time series vs. UC Irvine and a 10-5 record in 2016.
Saturday's attendance at Lindsey Nelson Stadium: 2,089
Up Next for the Vols: The Vols travel to UNC Asheville for a Tuesday contest that begins at 6 p.m. ET

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