KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Samford baseball team dropped an 11-1 decision in seven innings at fourth-ranked Tennessee Sunday afternoon at Lindsay Nelson Stadium.
 
With the win, Samford fell to 3-4 on the season. Tennessee improved to 7-0 with the victory. Tennessee won the series by scores of 5-1, 7-3 and 11-1.

"Our guys competed like crazy in what turned out to be two and a half really tight, competitve games," Samford head coach Tony David said. "We understood the challenge of taking on these guys at their place on a weekend. We let game two get away late as a great team delivered more big hits than we did."
 
Samford was led on the day by Jeffrey Ince, going 2-for-3 with a home run and one RBI. Jackson Harris, Hayden Perry and Michael Gupton had one hit each for the Bulldogs. Josh Leerssen (0-1) pitched 3.2 innings, allowing six runs, five earned, on seven hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford.

"Outcomes aside, there were a ton of positives in the weekend and our guys pitched the stew out of it," David said. "We will be a lot better the rest of the way because of this series."
 
For Tennessee, Gavin Kilen, Hunter Ensley, Levi Clark and Stone Lawless each homered in the game. Austin Hunley (2-0) pitched 2.0 innings, allowing no runs on two hits to earn the win for the Volunteers.
 
Samford got out to an early lead when Ince led the game off with a home run to left field for a 1-0 Samford lead. In the bottom of the second inning, Tennessee plated a pair of runs when Reese Chapman scored on a ground out and Lawless scored on an error for a 2-1 Volunteer lead.
 
Tennessee pulled away with five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning for a 7-1 lead. Kilen hit a three-run home run and Ensley followed that up with a solo homer. The final run of the inning came home when Andrew Fischer scored on an error.
 
In the fifth inning, Chapman scored on a sacrifice fly by Kilen and Lawless scored on a single by Ensley to push the Tennessee lead to 9-1. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Clark and Lawless both hit solo homers to push the lead to 11-1.
 
Samford will next play at Auburn on Tuesday Feb. 25. The game is set for a 6 p.m. start from Plainsman Park.
 
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