Eight not great: Vols' SEC tournament hopes dim as losing streak continues against UK

By Ryan Callahan
of The Daily Times Staff

KNOXVILLE -- The Tennessee baseball team remains in contention for one of the final spots in the eight-team Southeastern Conference Tournament.

Now, though, the Volunteers will need some help to get there.

Tennessee suffered a potentially fatal blow Saturday in its attempt to salvage a postseason berth amid a late-season swoon, extending its losing streak to eight games with a 5-2 loss to Kentucky before a crowd of 1,656 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Vols (25-26, 11-15 SEC) entered the weekend tied with the Wildcats (37-14, 13-13) for eighth in the conference standings but now face a must-win situation in today's 2 p.m. series finale.

A victory would keep UT alive heading into next week's season-ending series at South Carolina. A loss, on the other hand, could allow the Vols to be mathematically eliminated from the race by the end of the day.

"It's still technically not over," Tennessee coach Todd Raleigh said. "If we beat them (today), they get swept next weekend and we win two, we're ahead of them."

Considering how the Vols have played recently, however, it's an unlikely scenario.

Tennessee showed no signs Saturday of overcoming from its recent offensive struggles, failing to score for eight innings against Kentucky starting pitcher James Paxton and right-handed reliever Aaron Lovett (4-1).

Cody Brown and Jeff Lockwood gave the Vols their only runs with back-to-back solo home runs with two outs in the ninth before Wildcats reliever Scott Green induced a first-pitch, game-ending groundout by pinch hitter Shawn Griffin for his third save of the year.

"We hit a lot of balls hard. We just didn't get a big hit when we needed it," Brown said. "That's kind of what's been killing us lately."

The Wildcats, meanwhile, failed to record a hit for three innings against UT left-hander Bryan Morgado (5-4) before taking the lead in the fourth and pulling away with three more in the sixth.

Chris McClendon, Kentucky's left-handed-hitting third baseman, drove in what proved to be the game-winning run with a two-out, two-run homer to right field off Morgado in the sixth.

"Things are just not going our way right now," said Morgado, who allowed four runs on six hits over six innings and picked up seven of his nine strikeouts in the first three innings.

"We're playing hard. That's just the way baseball is."

The Wildcats held their early lead intact with a few impressive plays on defense.

Right fielder Troy Frazier tumbled over the side wall of the Vols' bullpen after catching a foul ball by UT catcher Yan Gomes, and Collin Cowgill's sliding catch in left field in the eighth prevented Cody Grisham from reaching base and putting two runners on with no outs.

Lovett took care of the rest, allowing just two runs on four hits over 62âÑ3 innings after taking over for the left-handed Paxton, who left after two innings because of a lingering Achilles injury.

Tennessee didn't take advantage of its lone early scoring opportunity, which came in the third after Lovett replaced Paxton.

Leadoff hitter P.J. Polk sacrificed Danny Lima and Grisham into scoring position, and Kentrail Davis was intentionally walked to load the bases before catcher Yan Gomes grounded into an inning-ending double play.

"Everybody's frustrated -- the coaches, the staff, the players, everybody on down the line," said Lockwood, who finished 2-for-4.

"This was a big game in our season. It's just tough. We're playing well, but we're losing."