Tennessee takes wild rubber game from Kentucky, avoids weekend sweep
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Tennessee avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of Kentucky, taking a hard-fought rubber game by a final of 10-9 in Lexington on Sunday.
The Volunteers took a 7-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning before the Wildcats fought back. Back-to-back RBI singles, a sacrifice groundout, and a third run-scoring single brought in four runs as Kentucky pulled within 7-5. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, Caeden Cloud’s RBI double made it a 7-6 ballgame.
In the top of the ninth, though, Levi Clark stroked a three-run home run over the wall in left center to stretch Tennessee‘s lead to 10-6.
Those turned out to be important insurance runs as the Wildcats used a pair of homers in the bottom half — a leadoff solo shot from Tyler Bell and a Braxton Van Cleave two-bagger — to make it 10-9. But after Scott Campbell reached on a single, Vols lefty Brandon Arvidson caught Hudson Brown looking before Cloud flied out to right to end the game.
Clark was a perfect 3-3 at the plate, ending the day with two home runs and five RBI. Landon Mack went 6.0 innings strong (one run, six hits, six K’s and two walks) to get the win and improve to 4-4.
Tennessee returns home to face Presbyterian in a midweek game before welcoming Texas for a three-game set. Kentucky travels to Gainesville for a weekend series at Florida.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
