Box Score KNOXVILLE, Tenn.- Despite homeruns from Brennan Washington (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and Nick Egli (Brentwood, Tenn.) the Belmont University baseball (28-21, 14-10 OVC) dropped a 5-3 decision on the road to the Tennessee Volunteers (26-23, 7-17 SEC) Tuesday evening in Knoxville.
Belmont was outhit by the Vols 10-7, but with a runner aboard, brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth only to see Ben Kocher (Zionsville, Ind.) robbed of extra bases as UT's Vincent Jackson ranged into the leftcenter gap to make a running catch and end the game.
Washington and Clay Payne (Powell. Tenn.) both finished with multi-hit performances in the midweek setback, as the junior, Washington now has recorded at least two hits in 20 games this season.
The Bruin bullpen was excellent on the evening, allowing just three runs over eight innings of duty.
Starting pitcher Casey Queener (Brentwood, Tenn.), who suffered the loss and falls to 2-3 on the year, was relieved by Kyle Klotz (Fairview, Tenn.) in the bottom of the first inning, before registering an out. The Vols got to Queener for a pair of scores before Klotz entered the game with runners on second and third and no one out. After hitting the first man he saw, Klotz pitched admirably and recorded three-straight outs to escape the jam. Thanks to the outstanding effort from Klotz, the Bruins minimized the damaged to just two runs.
The teams exchanged scoreless innings in the third and fourth inning as Klotz logged some crucial outs in the early going. Tennessee got to Klotz for two runs in the bottom of the fourth, before Austin Krzeminski (Roswell, Ga.) entered the game in an eerily similar situation to the one Klotz inherited in the first. Tennessee picked up four-straight hits and a walk off of Klotz before he was lifted in favor of Krzeminski. Krzeminski entered the game with a bases-loaded, no-one out jam on his hands but recorded a pop out and a pair of strike outs to elude the Volunteer threat and hold the score at 4-1.
Both Klotz and Krzeminski were terrific in key situations for Belmont as they each did their part in keeping Belmont within striking distance.
Krzeminski remained in the game for three additional innings as he finished going four innings and allowing just one run with four strikeouts.
After Conger came around to score on an error on a third to first pickoff attempt in the sixth, Egli cut the Tennessee lead to just 4-3 when he launched his third homerun of the season well over the left field fence.
The Volunteers answered right back with a run in the bottom of the seventh as they recorded their first two hits off of Krzeminski and pushed across their fifth run.
The fourth and final Bruin to toe the slab was Zach Hodgkiss (Eads, Tenn., who pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bruins left just four on base as five Volunteer pitchers managed to stymie the high-powered Belmont lineup.
Kyle Conger (Brentwood, Tenn.) extended his hitting streak to 14 games while teammate Chas Hadden (Morristown, Tenn.) saw his 13 game hitting streak end with an 0-4 day at the dish.
The Bruins return to action this weekend May 13-15 when they host Tennessee Tech for a crucial OVC series at E.S. Rose Park.
