How it Happened: Tennessee swept by Missouri in Sunday doubleheader play

Tennessee fell victim of the series-sweep Sunday afternoon, coming up short at Missouri 7-4 and 7-1 on an afternoon doubleheader.

It’s the first time the Vols (15-6) have been swept since at Arkansas in 2019. It’s the first time Tennessee has been swept to open Southeastern conference play since at Auburn that same season. Missouri (15-3) pounded out 14 runs on 14 hits on the day, taking advantage of five UT errors over the course of 14 innings. The Vols scraped across five runs on seven hits in the two Sunday games.

The Vols will return home on Tuesday for a midweek bout against Western Carolina before opening the home conference slate with Texas A&M next weekend.

Game 1: Scoring Summary

Bottom 1^st: Luke Mann singled to shallow left field on a popup that Maui Ahuna should have caught. Instead, the shortstop lost it in the sun. Ross Lovich singled him in with a base-hit to left-center and Dalton Bargo followed with a two-run home run.

3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB – Score: Mizzou 3-0

Bottom 3^rd: Luke Mann walked and Ross Lovich doubled him to third to get things going. Dalton Bargo struck out swinging. Trevor Austin singled to centerfield, plating Mann from third. Chase Burns called for a balk and Lovich scored from third.

2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB – Score: Mizzou 5-0

Top 4^th: Hunter Ensley reached on catcher’s interference and came around to score on a Maui Ahuna single up the middle.

1 R, 1 H, 1 E, 0 LOB – Score: Mizzou 5-1

M4 | Maui drives in Ensley with a two-out single to get us on the board.

Burns back to the mound looking to keep the deficit at four.#GBO // #OTH // #BeatMizzou pic.twitter.com/biEeIHNDkv

— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) March 19, 2023

Bottom 4^th: Dylan Leach led off the inning with a solo home run to right field.

1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB – Score: Mizzou 6-1

Bottom 5^th: Ross Lovich reached on an error by Blake Burke at first base. Dalton Bargo singled him over to third base. Trevor Austin singled to right field, plating Lovich from third base.

1 R, 2 H, 2 E, 3 LOB – Score: Mizzou 7-1

Top 6^th: Griffin Merritt sent a solo home run over the wall in straightaway centerfield.

1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB – Score: Mizzou 7-2

T6 | Griffin Merritt takes Zach Franklin deep to dead center off the batter's eye for his seventh homer of the year!

Need some more of that.#GBO // #OTH // #BeatMizzou pic.twitter.com/Go6O5tDhdC

— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) March 19, 2023

Top 7^th: Blake Burke reached third on a fielding error with two outs. Zane Denton homered to cut the deficit to three runs.

2 R, 1 H, 1 E, 0 LOB – Score Mizzou 7-4

Game 1 – Final Stats

Game 2- Scoring Summary

Bottom 3^rd: Beam walked Justin Colon on four pitches and then registered a throwing error to first base on a chopper from Luke Mann – putting runners at the corners with nobody out. Matt Garcia struck out looking. Dalton Bargo walked to load the bases. Trevor Austin singled to third base to plate Colon for the first run. Hank Zeisler popped out to short. Tre Morris reached on a fielding error by Christian Moore and Mann came around to score. Cam Chick doubled off the right-centerfield wall to plate a pair but Morris is thrown out at home.

4 R, 2 H, 2 E, 1 LOB – Score: Mizzou 4-0

Bottom 4^th: Ty Wilsmeyer reached on an error by Burke at first, stole second base.Justin Colon single dup the middle, scored Wilmseyer.

1 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB – Score: Mizzou 5-0

Top 5^th: Jared Dickey walked with one out and stole second one batter later. With two outs, Hunter Ensley singled to right field, plating Dickey for the Vols’ first run of the day.

1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB – Score: Mizzou 5-1

Bottom 5^th: With two outs, Tre Morris doubled to left field and came around to score on an RBI single from Cam Chick.

1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB – Score: Mizzou 6-1

Bottom 6^th: Colon walked to begin the frame. Mann was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with no outs. Garcia hit by pitch as well. A 6-4-3 double play got two outs but a run scores, RBI going to Bargo.  

1 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB – Score: Mizzou 7-1

Game 2: Final Stats

Tennessee’s weekly game schedule

Tuesday: Tennessee 10, Lipscomb 0 | Box Score | How it Happened | Four Takes

Friday: Missouri 9, Tennessee 1 | Box Score | How it Happened | Four Takes

Sunday: Missouri 7, Tennessee 4

Sunday: Missouri 7, Tennessee 1

Tennessee in the polls this week

D1 Baseball – No. 2

USA Today: No. 2

Collegiate Baseball – No. 3

Perfect Game – No. 4

Baseball America – No. 4

NCBWA – No. 4