Tennessee defeated No. 9 Mississippi State 6-5 in the opening game of their SEC series Friday night at Dudy Noble Field. The Volunteers held off a late rally by the Bulldogs to secure the victory, led by a three-run eighth inning.
Tennessee took an early lead in the third inning when Garrett Wright tripled and scored on a groundout. Henry Ford added a solo homer to put the Volunteers ahead 2-0. Mississippi State responded in the bottom of the fourth, with ace Reese doubling and scoring on a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Volunteers extended their lead in the fifth with a solo homer from Levi Clark. Mississippi State answered back in the same inning, with Reed Stallman and Kevin Milewski hitting back-to-back solo home runs to tie the game at 3-3. The game remained tied until the eighth, when Tennessee loaded the bases and scored three runs, highlighted by RBI hits from Nate Eisfelder and Wright.
MSU scored twice in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single from Noah Sullivan and Stallman’s second solo homer of the night. Despite a strong ninth inning from Stallman, who hit his second homer to bring the Bulldogs within one, Mississippi State fell short as the Volunteers sealed the win.
Stallman led the Bulldogs at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two home runs and two RBIs. Teel, Reese, and Sullivan each added two hits. Tennessee finished with 11 hits, with Wright collecting three. The Volunteers bullpen held firm in the late innings.
Mississippi State starter Tomas Valincius pitched six innings, allowing three runs and striking out six. The Bulldogs will try to even the series Saturday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+, with Duke Stone starting for MSU against Tennessee’s Tegan Kuhns.
