ATHENS, Ga. — Tennessee erased an early deficit in Sunday’s series finale at Georgie, but they couldn’t erase a late one as a disastrous fifth inning buried the Vols and led to a 9-4 loss.
Drew Beam’s road struggles continued and Tennessee couldn’t muster enough offense to keep up with the Bulldogs.
Here’s everything to know as Tennessee fell to 0-5 in weekends away from Lindsey Nelson Stadium this season.
Drew Beam’s Road Struggles Continue
Tony Vitello said Saturday that Drew Beam’s resume is tough to beat when it comes to a guy that deserves the ball on a Sunday series rubber match. But there’s one hole in Beam’s resume despite his otherwise fantastic sophomore season.
Beam has struggled badly on the road in SEC play this season and it continued Sunday as Georgia totaled eight runs (seven earned) in the right-handers 4.1 innings pitched.
Georgia’s success against Beam came from the jump as Ben Anderson led off the game with an opposite field homer— just his fifth long ball of the season and continued throughout his outing as there was just one inning he didn’t allow a run.
After Sunday’s game, Beam has now allowed 24 runs and 14 earned runs in 13 innings pitched in his four road conference starts. While he’s allowed a significant amount of unearned runs, most came off of errors he committed at Missouri and LSU. Compare that to his numbers in four home SEC starts where he’s allowed 10 runs and seven earned runs in 25 innings pitched.
While struggling on the road hasn’t been rare for Beam this season, the way Georgia did damage off him was. He entered Sunday’s game having given up just four homers on the season. The Bulldogs doubled up the season numbers with four more homers
More From RTI: Play-By-Play Of Tennessee’s Series Finale Loss
Cal Stark Sparks Tennessee Behind And At The Plate
Tennessee was severely lacking momentum as they trailed 3-0 in the second inning and Beam was struggling to get out. Catcher Cal Stark provided a Spark, throwing behind Dwight Allen II at first for out number two of the inning.
It gave the Vols’ dugout and team as a whole a jolt that they desperately needed.
The next time Stark came to the plate was in the fourth inning with a runner on-base and Tennessee trailing 4-1. He delivered with his bat this time by hitting a mammoth two-run homer to left field that sparked a three-run, game tying inning for the Vols.
T4 | CLUTCH SWING, CAL!!!
2-run big fly for the Tennessee backstop and the Vols are right back in it, now trailing by only a run.#GBO // #OTH // #BeatGeorgia pic.twitter.com/hmnzdestlI
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) May 7, 2023
Stark made another play for Tennessee in the seventh inning when he caught Connor Tate stealing third for the inning’s second out.
The junior catcher does not have strong number this season but has become the Vols’ everyday starter behind the plate due to his energy and command behind the plate. Both were on display in Tennessee’s series closing loss.
A Disastrous Bottom Of The Fifth Downs Tennessee
Vitello rolled the dice when he let Beam go back out to the mound in the fifth inning to face Georgia’s lineup for the third time. Things quickly unraveled for Tennessee.
Leadoff man Ben Anderson reached base when Christian Moore booted a routine ground ball and Georgia freshman phenom Charlie Condon hit his second long ball of the game to break the tie and give the Bulldogs a 6-4 lead.
The trouble was just starting for Tennessee. Cole Wagner reached base on an infield single that could have — if not should have — been ruled an error. The process repeated itself as Parks Harber hammered a two-run homer to right field which finally ended Beam’s day.
Freshman AJ Russell came in and struck out both batters he faced to end the inning but the damage was already done. The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead and opened it up in a matter of moments as the four-run inning opened up an 8-4 lead Tennessee couldn’t come back from.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee baseball returns home to Lindsey Nelson Stadium Tuesday night for an instate matchup with Austin Peay. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. ET.
