Alabama baseball hands top-ranked Tennessee its second straight loss

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Alabama baseball knocked off No. 1 Tennessee, 6-3, on Friday evening at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The win moved the Crimson Tide to 23-12 overall and 8-5 in Southeastern Conference play.

eight Ws in a row #RollTide pic.twitter.com/jq7dXF7SMF

— Alabama Baseball (@AlabamaBSB) April 16, 2022

Tennessee got on the board early, plating two runs on four hits in the first inning. The Tide answered with a solo home run from Owen Diodati in the top of the second followed by a solo shot from Jim Jarvis in the third to even things up at two apiece. The lead became UA's an inning later when Alabama posted three runs in the top of the fourth, highlighted by the go-ahead solo home run from Diodati, his second of the day. Alabama would not trail the rest of the evening.

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The Vols cut the lead to two with a solo homer in the sixth before both teams went scoreless until the ninth. That final inning saw Alabama add an insurance run on a two-out RBI-triple from Drew Williamson to make it a 6-3 ballgame. Tennessee singled to start the ninth but would do no more damage as the Vols were then retired in order for the final three outs to hand UA the series-opening win.

Garrett McMillan (4-2) settled in after a shaky first to pick up his fourth win of the season. The junior gave up two runs in that opening stanza but locked in to allow just three hits and one run over his final 4.1 innings. McMillan's line featured three runs on seven hits and four walks with five strikeouts across 5.1 frames before he turned it over to the bullpen. Three Tide relievers combined for the final 3.2 scoreless innings, holding the Vols to just two hits and a walk while striking out three. The relief effort was highlighted by Dylan Ray, who worked the final 1.2 innings to pick up his fourth save of the season.

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Alabama's offensive effort was led by Diodati with the junior finishing 2-for-4 with two home runs, two RBI and a pair of runs scored. The Tide's 1-through-3 hitters also contributed two-hit efforts, as Williamson went 2-for-4 with two RBI from the two-hole, while Jarvis and Denton each recorded a 2-for-5 night from the No. 1 and No. 3 spots, respectively.