SCORE: Tennessee 10, Missouri 1 | FINAL
*SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE AT-BAT BY AT-BAT FEED*
Third-ranked Tennessee baseball (34-7, 12-6 SEC) is set to host the Missouri Tigers (19-23, 6-12 SEC) Thursday in game one of a three-game series in Knoxville.
First pitch is at 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. Reminder that the online broadcasts can be accessed on any mobile device through WatchESPN. WatchESPN can be accessed through the ESPN App, or online at espn.com/watch. You can also watch or listen to the game using the links.
Games one and three (Thursday and Saturday) will be broadcast on the SEC Network this weekend. Game two (Friday) will be on SEC Network +.
This is Tennessee’s first of three Thursday–Saturday weekend series. Next week at Florida will be a Thursday–Saturday series, and the final series of the season vs. South Carolina will be Thursday–Saturday.
Tennessee and Missouri are coming off a pair of midweek wins. The Vols beat Western Carolina 12-4, and the Tigers toppled Missouri State, 10-6.
In SEC play, the Vols are coming off their most impressive weekend to date, as they beat (then) third-ranked Kentucky in a three-game series on the road. Tennessee won games two and three 9-4 and 13-11, respectively, after dropping the opener in Lexington, 5-3.
Tennessee had tremendous performances from reliever Aaron Combs on Saturday and Christian Moore at the plate all weekend. Moore went on a tear in the Commonwealth, hitting nine-of-15 (.600) at the plate with four home runs, a double and nine RBIs. Three of his four home runs came in Tennessee’s series-clinching win on Sunday.
Moore won SEC Player of the Week, D1 Baseball Player of the Week and Perfect Game Player of the Week for his heroics.
The series win catapulted Tennessee over Kentucky in the rankings, and the Vols are the unanimous number three team in the country behind fellow SEC squads Texas A&M and Arkansas.
Read more about how Christian Moore was the ‘separator’ in Tennessee’s series win over Kentucky here.
In addition to the monumental series win in Lexington, Tennessee owns a series sweep over defending national champions LSU in Knoxville, series wins over No. 20 Georgia and Ole Miss at home, and a series victory over Auburn on the road.
The Kentucky series win marked the Vols’ fifth straight.
Tennessee opened SEC play in Tuscaloosa against Alabama, who are the only team to beat the Vols in a series this season, winning games two and three.
In addition to the five conference series wins, some highlights from Tennessee’s season have been its series sweep over Illinois, 10-run midweek win over Kansas State, and wins over Texas Tech and Baylor in Arlington.
As for Missouri, the Tigers have been among the worst teams in the SEC this season. Sitting at a 6-12 conference record, Missouri has lost all but one series in league play. The Tigers’ lone conference series win came against Florida, who they swept. Missouri also owns wins against Kentucky, Georgia and LSU. Vanderbilt and Arkansas are the only teams to sweep Missouri this season.
On paper, Missouri is the least difficult series remaining on Tennessee’s schedule, and a sweep should be the Vols’ goal.
Injury Note
-AJ Russell remains out as he deals with forearm soreness. Russell will likely be out for a while, but he didn’t suffer a very serious injury.
For all of RTI’s baseball coverage so far this season, including how Aaron Combs’ recent excellent performances change Tennessee’s ceiling and what Tony Vitello said previewing the Missouri series after Tennessee’s series win over Western Carolina, click here.
For RTI’s latest Press Pass Baseball Podcast, click here.
More From RTI: No. 3 Tennessee Baseball vs. Missouri: How To Watch, Pitching Matchups, Prediction
Lineups, pitching matchup and additional pre-game notes are below, followed by the LIVE at-bat by at-bat game thread.
Starting Lineups
TENNESSEE STARTING NINE:
2B Christian Moore (R)
1B Blake Burke (L)
3B Billy Amick (R)
RF Kavares Tears (L)
LF Dylan Dreiling (L)
SS Dean Curley (R)
CF Hunter Ensley (R)
DH Reese Chapman (L)
C Cal Stark (R)
Lineup Notes:
- Reese Chapman gets the DH nod. Expect him and Dalton Bargo to rotate at that spot this weekend.
- Cal Stark gets the catcher start, his fifth straight in SEC play. Stark is the bona-fide No. 1 catcher now for the Vols, in large part due to Cannon Peebles’ struggles at the plate.
- Outfield trio remains the same as its been in SEC play.
- Top six of the order remain the same.
MISSOURI STARTING NINE:
LF Brock Daniels (L)
CF Kaden Peer (L)
3B Trevor Austin (R)
C Jedier Hernandez (R)
DH Mateo Serna (S)
RF Jackson Lovich (R)
2B Matt Garcia (S)
SS Drew Culbertson (R)
1B Danny Corona (L)
Pitching Matchup:
Vols Gr-Sr. LHP Chris Stamos (3-0, 3.38 ERA, 13 app., 2 starts, 16.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 9 BB, 15 K, .140 opp. batting avg., 1.00 WHIP)
vs.
Tigers Gr-Sr. LHP Ryan Magdic (1-1, 2.84 ERA, 10 app., 0 starts, 2 SV, 19.0 IP, 15 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 26 K, .211 opp. batting avg., 1.00 WHIP)
Pitching notes:
- Stamos gets his third straight start on a Friday. He pitched 2.2 innings two weeks ago and 0.1 innings last week. Expect him to be used as an opener again with 3-4 innings as his max. AJ Causey will likely be first out of the bullpen.
- This is Magdic’s first start of the season. Has been one of Missouri’s top relievers, but his longest outing to date is 3.1 innings.
Uniforms
Tennessee: Dark Mode
Missouri: Grey tops, grey bottoms
First Pitch
Tennessee football senior WR Bru McCoy threw out the first pitch in Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Watch below.
*NOTE* There IS a RUN-RULE today. If Tennessee or Missouri leads by 10 or more runs in the seventh inning or later, the game is OVER.
- Run-rule is MANDATORY in SEC games.
GAME THREAD
1st Inning:
T1
-Brock Daniels flies out to CF.
-Kaden Peer grounds out to 2B after a long at-bat.
-Trevor Austin slaps a single to shallow center field.
-Jedier Hernandez drives a single to right center. Austin advances to third.
-Mateo Serna strikes out swinging.
- Nice job by Stamos to work around some trouble there in the first.
END OF TOP HALF
B1
-Christian Moore smokes a leadoff 408-foot solo homer to left center.
- Moore picks up where he left off last weekend. No doubter after a long at-bat. Moore extends his team-leading HR total to 20 (leads by six). Now leads Blake Burke by three in the all-time program HR race with 47 career HR. Burke has 44.
-Blake Burke flies out to CF.
-Billy Amick grounds out to 3B.
- Nice play by the third baseman to make the throw on time after struggling to field the hard-hit grounder.
Tennessee challenges the call. Call STANDS.
-Kavares Tears flies out to LF.
END OF BOTTOM HALF
Score: Vols 1, Tigers 0
2nd Inning:
T2
-Jackson Lovich flies out to RF.
-Matt Garcia strikes out swinging.
-Drew Culbertson flies out to CF.
END OF TOP HALF
B2
-Dylan Dreiling works a walk.
-Dean Curley works a walk after a long at-bat.
-Hunter Ensley grounds out to P on a sac bunt. Runners advances to second and third.
- Not a move you see Tennessee make often. But it worked great.
-Reese Chapman strikes out swinging.
-Cal Stark rips a three-run homer to left center.
- Nice bounce back for Stark after a poor weekend at the plate at Kentucky. Stark’s 5th HR of the season.
-Christian Moore lines out to 2B.
END OF BOTTOM HALF
Score: Vols 4, Tigers 0
3rd Inning:
T3
-Danny Corona singles up the middle.
-Brock Daniels bunts Corona over to second with a sac bunt. Out at first.
-Kaden Peer strikes out swinging.
*Pitching change: Jr. RHP AJ Causey (6-3, 4.88 ERA) on to pitch for Stamos*
- Stamos once again used in an opener role. Nice bounce back from last week.
-Trevor Austin is walked.
-Jedier Hernandez strikes out swinging.
END OF TOP HALF
B3
-Blake Burke pops up to 1B.
-Billy Amick ropes a solo homer to left field.
- Got out of here in a hurry (112 mph). 15th HR of Amick’s season. He’s now second on the team behind Christian Moore.
-Kavares Tears strikes out looking.
-Dylan Dreiling strikes out swinging.
END OF BOTTOM HALF
Score: Vols 5, Tigers 0
4th Inning:
T4
-Mateo Serna singles to CF. Ensley nearly made a diving catch, but the ball hit the ground.
-Jackson Lovich strikes out swinging.
-Matt Garcia strikes out looking.
-Drew Culbertson grounds out to SS. Nice charge by Curley.
END OF TOP HALF
B4
*Pitching change: Sr. RHP Jacob Peaden (3-1, 4.71 ERA) on to pitch for Magdic*
-Dean Curley flies out to CF.
-Hunter Ensley hammers a solo homer over the scoreboard in RF.
- 6th HR of the season for Ensley.
-Reese Chapman HBP.
-Cal Stark strikes out swinging.
-Christian Moore sends a single to CF. Chapman advances to third.
-Blake Burke lines out to 2B.
END OF BOTTOM HALF
Score: Vols 6, Tigers 0
5th Inning:
T5
-Danny Corona works a leadoff walk.
-Brock Daniels grounds into a 6-4-3 double play.
-Kaden Peer flies out to LF.
- Nice job by Dreiling to run up and catch it.
END OF TOP HALF
B5
-Billy Amick gets a single to drop in no man’s land in shallow center.
-Kavares Tears works a walk. Amick advances to second.
-Dylan Dreiling strikes out looking.
-Dean Curley strikes out swinging.
-Hunter Ensley lines out to 3B.
END OF BOTTOM HALF
Score: Vols 6, Tigers 0
6th Inning:
T6
-Trevor Austin strikes out swinging.
-Jedier Hernandez flies out to RF.
-Mateo Serna doubles to LF.
- Dreiling jumped to make the catch but the ball sailed over his glove.
-Jackson Lovich strikes out swinging.
END OF TOP HALF
B6
-Reese Chapman works a leadoff walk.
-Cal Stark bunts Chapman over with a sac bunt to 1B. Tagged out on his way to first.
-Christian Moore works a walk.
-Blake Burke strikes out swinging.
- Burke’s 31-game hit streak is in jeopardy of ending.
-Billy Amick launches a three-run moonshot home run to the second deck of the left-field porches.
- Second HR of the night for Amick. 16th of the season. He’s hit four home runs in the last two games.
*Pitching change: RHP Ben Pedersen (0-0, 8.22 ERA) on to pitch for Jacob Peaden*
-Kavares Tears smacks a single into right field.
-Dylan Dreiling is walked.
-Dean Curley is walked. Bases loaded with two outs for Hunter Ensley.
*Pitching change: Jr. RHP Kaden Jacobi (0-0, 9.39 ERA) on to pitch for Pedersen*
-Hunter Ensley grounds into a fielder’s choice to SS to strand all three. Curley out at second, 6-4.
END OF BOTTOM HALF
Score: Vols 9, Tigers 0
7th Inning:
T7
*Ariel Antigua to SS for Dean Curley*
-Matt Garcia flies out to LF.
-Drew Culbertson grounds out to 1B unassisted.
-Danny Coronoa drills a solo homer to RF. Missouri is on the board.
-Brock Daniels grounds out to 3B.
END OF TOP HALF
B7
*Colby Backus pinch-hitting for Reese Chapman*
-Colby Backus strikes out swinging.
-Cal Stark grounds out to SS.
-Christian Moore singles through the right side.
-Blake Burke strikes out swinging.
- Burke’s 31-game hit streak will likely end tonight.
END OF BOTTOM HALF
Score: Vols 9, Tigers 1
8th Inning:
T8
-Kaden Peer grounds out at first 1B to P.
-Trevor Austin singles to SS.
- Would’ve been a tremendous play from Curley but a very tough one to make.
-Jedier Hernandez grounds into a 4-3 double play. Nice job by CMo to turn two beautifully.
END OF TOP HALF
B8
-Billy Amick grounds out to 2B.
*Cannon Peebles pinch-hitting for Kavares Tears*
-Peebles cranks a solo homer to right center.
- First HR of the season for Peebles. Long time coming. Entire dugout went berserk when it went over the fence. Special moment for Cannon and the entire team now.
*Dalton Bargo pinch-hitting for Dylan Dreiling*
-Bargo strikes out swinging.
-Ariel Antigua strikes out swinging.
END OF BOTTOM HALF
Score: Vols 10, Tigers 1
9th Inning:
T9
*Bradke Lohry to 2B for Christian Moore*
*Ethan Payne to LF for Cal Stark*
*Dalton Bargo to RF*
*Cannon Peebles to C*
-Mateo Serna strikes out swinging.
-Jackson Lovich sends a single to LF.
-Matt Garcia singles up the middle. Lovich advances to second.
-Drew Culbertson grounds out to SS.
- Nice play by Antigua. Lovich advances to third. Garcia advances to second.
*Pitching change: Fr. LHP Matthew Dallas (1-0, 2.70 ERA) on to pitch for Causey*
- Another great extended relief outing for Causey. 90 pitches.
-Danny Corona flies out to CF.
END OF TOP HALF
Score: Vols 10, Tigers 1
END OF GAME
FINAL: Tennessee Vols 10, Missouri Tigers 1
