No. 24 Alabama Baseball Drops Game 2 at No. 1 Tennessee, 9-2

The Crimson Tide and the Volunteers are even at one game apiece heading into Sunday's series finale in Knoxville.

After winning Friday's Game 1, Alabama baseball fell short on Saturday at No. 1 Tennessee, with the Volunteers' offense driving in nine runs for a 9-2 victory, evening the series.

The loss for the Crimson Tide snaps an eight-game win streak, including six-straight SEC victories.

Things got heated in a hurry at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in the top of the first when Alabama third baseman Zane Denton rocketed a line drive off of Tennessee starting pitcher Chase Dollander. While Denton was called out on the play at first, Volunteers pitching coach Frank Anderson stormed onto the field to argue with umpires. While it's unsure what was said in the exchange, Anderson was ejected.

The ejection caused Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello to also storm out of the dugout, resulting in him also being tossed by the umpires. Josh Elander took over head coaching duties, and the Crimson Tide was unable to score as the side was retired.

A 2-run home run in the bottom of the first by Tennessee right fielder Jordan Beck put the Volunteers up 2-0 to start the game. A sac-fly RBI in the bottom of the third by Volunteers center fielder Drew Gilbert put Tennessee up 3-0.

Alabama's two runs came in the top of the sixth, when Denton crushed a 2-run home run of his own into the Tennessee bullpen, cutting the Volunteers' lead down to one run. However, it was the only two runs that the Crimson Tide would ultimately score.

Three more Volunteers runs in the bottom of the sixth and three additional in the bottom of the eighth gave Tennessee a ton of breathing room and allowed them to coast to the eventual 9-2 win.

On the mound, Alabama starting pitcher Jacob McNairy pitched five innings, gave up three runs off of four hits, walked three and struck out two. While he was solid, it was the Crimson Tide bullpen that ultimately lost the game for Alabama.

Reliever Hunter Furtado took over in the bottom of the sixth, going two and two-thirds innings and giving up five runs off of four hits. He walked one batter and struck out three before handing the game over to Brayden Gainey, who gave up a hit and one run before getting the final out of the eighth inning.

Tennessee reliever Camden Sewell (4-1) was issued the win for the Volunteers, while McNairy (4-1) was saddled with the loss.

With the loss, Alabama moves to 23-13 on the season and is now 8-6 in SEC play. Tennessee moves to 32-3 overall and is 13-1 in the conference. The Crimson Tide and the Volunteers will conclude this weekend's series in Game 3 on Easter Sunday (Noon CT, SEC Network+).

This story will be updated with a quote from Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon.

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Tennessee Stats

Highlights: Alabama Baseball at Tennessee