SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — No. 2 Tennessee baseball struggled on offense in its season-opening loss to Arizona on Friday night in the MLB Desert Invitational in Scottsdale, Ariz
The Vols opened scoring with a Zane Denton sacrifice fly in the first inning, but could not find another run in the 3-1 defeat against the Wildcats. Tennessee was held to a lower scoring output than all of last season, when its lowest-scoring game was a two-run effort.
Top pitching prospect Chase Dollander started the game for Tennessee. He finished with seven strikeouts and two earned runs over 4.2 innings of work, and retired the final nine batters he faced after allowed what turned out to be the game-winning home run in the second inning. Seth Halvorsen (3.0 IP, 3 K, 1 ER) and Kirby Connell (0.1 IP) also saw pitching work for Tennessee.
The Vols continue the MLB Desert Invitational on Saturday night against Grand Canyon University. That game is slated to start at 8 p.m. ET in Phoenix.
