KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - UNCG baseball let slip what was a close game for the majority of the night, as the hosting No. 14 Tennessee Vols took a 6-2 win to open this weekend's series in Knoxville. Neither side was very offensive in the early goings but a pair of solo home runs from Corey Rosier and Pres Cavenaugh kept the Spartans within a run of their hosts in the sixth, before the Volunteers pulled away in the last few frames. 

The Spartans and Tennessee both went down in order through the first two innings, as the home team eventually broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the third. It wouldn't be until the fourth that the Volunteers broke up the scoreless tie, with UNCG starter Austin Koehn giving up a single knock through the first nine outs of the night. A pair of doubles and a defensive error gave the Vols a 2-0 lead in the frame, with one of those runs going down unearned.

Koehn turned in his third quality start on the year, giving up three earned runs over his 6.0 innings of work. The righty spread eight knocks across those six frames thrown, but failed to give up a single free base while striking out three Tennessee batters on the night. 

Trailing by three going into the top half of the sixth it didn't take long for the Spartans to get back into striking distance thanks to a couple of solo shots from Rosier and Cavenaugh. UNCG had been getting no-hit up until one out into the inning before Rosier tallied his team's first knock on his fifth home run of the season. Watching the first pitch of his third at bat of the night, Rosier rode the second pitch he saw straight down center field to become his team's new leader in homers in 2021 and give the Spartans their first score of the night.

The home team's two-run lead was cut in half just two ABs later when Pres Cavenaugh tallied his second home run of the year on a rope to right. A redshirt-freshman, Cavenaugh's first homer in a Spartan uniform came just this last Tuesday on a grand slam shot against A&T. Like that at bat, Cavenaugh pulled his second home run of the past two games to right, pulling his side to within a run before the middle of the sixth. 

Tennessee pulled back a solo shot of their own to leadoff the bottom of the seventh, and while a Robbie O'Neal walk and Rosier's second hit put a pair of Spartans on in the 8th, UNCG was unable to score in the final three offensive frames. The Vols added a pair of runs on a sac fly and a fielder's choice in the home half of the eighth, and UNCG was forced to take a loss for the first time in two weeks.

>>> David Flores was one of three Spartan hitters to tally an extra base hit on the night, hitting a leadoff double in the ninth. He finished 1-for-3 with a walk
>>> After drawing a seven pitch walk in the fifth, Zack Budzik put himself into scoring position with his sixth stolen base of the year. He is still yet to be caught in 2021
>>> Cavenaugh touched first twice on the day. He represented the Spartans' first baserunner of the night after getting hit by a pitch in the fourth

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