Schlossnagle & Co. swept out of Knoxville with 9-6 defeat on Sunday
Game #24: No. 12 Tennessee 9, No. 21 Texas A&M 6
Records: Texas A&M (15-9, 1-5), Tennessee (19-6, 3-3)
WP: Seth Halvorsen (1-1)
LP: Justin Lamkin (1-1)
Box Score
A rocky series for the Aggies comes to an end in Rocky Top.
Following losses in the first two games of the series, No. 21 Texas A&M was unable to salvage Sunday’s ballgame in Knoxville against No. 12 Tennessee, falling 9-6.
A&M started freshman Justin Lamkin on the mound for the first time in conference play, and the start looked promising early on as Lamkin retired the first six batters he faced.
However, that promise came to an abrupt halt.
Volunteer third baseman Zane Denton hit a two-run blast in the bottom of the third to score the first runs of the game for the home side, going up 2-1.
A&M’s third consecutive short-lived lead was built by Jack Moss’ second homer of the weekend, a solo blast in the first.
In the fourth, the Aggies responded back with a Trevor Werner sacrifice fly to tie the game, but in the bottom half, the Volunteers took the lead right back with an RBI single off the bat of Christian Scott.
A&M tied it up again in the fifth with a sacrifice fly from Hunter Haas, but Denton continued to punish Lamkin, homering in the fifth and putting Tennessee up, 4-3. It was the first career multi-home run game of Denton’s career.
Chris Cortez relieved Lamkin following a one-out single in the fifth. Lamkin relinquished six runs on eight hits and one walk, striking out six Tennessee batters.
Cortez hit a batter and then surrendered a two-run double, extending the Volunteer lead to 6-3. Tennessee added another run in the seventh following an RBI single from first baseman Blake Burke.
Later in the inning, Denton remained a thorn in the side for Aggie pitching, delivering a two-run single to left field and increasing the Volunteer lead to 9-3. Denton finished the day 3-for-3 with five RBIs, two runs and a walk.
Despite scoring three runs in the ninth inning, the Aggies were unable to claw back into the game. The loss marked the fifth defeat for A&M in its first six conference games.
What was another failure of a day for Aggie pitching, the Maroon & White still received some quality performances at the plate.
Moss continues to find his way at the plate. Freshman Jace LaViolette finished 3-for-4 at the plate, capped off by an RBI single in the ninth inning. Haas continued his offensive ways at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI on the afternoon.
However, the individual performances at the plate were unable to help the Aggies salvage the final game of the series for a second week in a row.
A&M will look to bounce back from the weekend sweep as they play host to Texas on Tuesday before welcoming No. 13 Ole Miss to Blue Bell Park for a weekend series.
