Colonels fall at No. 12 Tennessee

The Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) Baseball team traveled south to take on the University of Tennessee (UT) on April  11 at 6:30 p.m. at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville. The Colonels fell to No. 16 Tennessee, 2-14.

The Colonels entered the game at 13-18 overall (4-8 ASUN) while the Vols entered at 22-10 (5-7 SEC).

EKU recently fell to Jacksonville University, losing the series 1-2 to the Dolphins after taking two games of the series into extra innings and exiting victorious on Saturday, April 8 after Roderick Criss II recorded a sac fly in the 14th inning, securing the 5-4 victory for the Colonels.

The Colonels started the scoring with a two out, solo home run by Will King at the top of the first inning before the Vols responded with a two run shot to right center to pull them ahead by one after the first inning.

The next two and a half innings remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when Tennessee tagged on four runs with a sac fly and a three run homer to right center. 

EKU added another run in the top of the fifth inning with a solo home run from Matthew Corlew before Peralta struck out swinging to end the inning for the Colonels.

Tennessee scored another four runs in the bottom of the fifth, pulling away, 10-2, over the Colonels.

EKU went scoreless in the top of the sixth and the Vols tacked on another run off a base hit to left field in the bottom of the inning. The Vols led the Colonels 11-2 heading into the top of the seventh inning.

Criss recorded a one-out base hit in the top of the seventh, but was out on a fielder's choice after DJ Sullivan hit a ground ball to the second baseman. Sullivan was safe on first, but the inning ended when Corlew hit a ground ball to the UT shortstop.

Tennessee hit a three run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, ending the game with a final score of 2-14 in the Vols favor. 

The Colonels return home to Earle Combs Stadium on Friday, April 14 at 6 p.m. for the first of a three-game series against Florida Gulf Coast University. The game will be televised on ESPN+ with live stats available at ekusports.com.