LSU Outlasts Tennessee to Win Critical Weekend Series in Knoxville

The LSU-Tennessee series had everything. It had brilliance, heartbreak, new uni looks, a head coach ejected, and a LSU slugger nobody expected to steal the show. 

After a rocky start to conference play, the new Lindsey Nelson Stadium rose out of the Tennessee hills like a promise. A $100-million-plus renovation had transformed it into one of the nation’s finest facilities, nearly doubling its capacity to 8,012. The Vol faithful filled the pews to set a new attendance record to open the Easter weekend series.

The show was a three-act drama that began with a gut punch, pivoted to triumph, and ended in something bordering on the surreal.

For the Vols, it was a series that showcased both their ceiling and their floor. Landon Mack was unhittable for seven innings and lost. Cam Appenzeller was untouchable in relief and won. And on the day it mattered most, a bullpen that had already cost them games this season unraveled again. 

LSU coach Jay Johnson set the stage before a single pitch was thrown:

“We’ve had a lot of history with Tennessee in recent years, playing them in the 2023 College World Series and in the 2024 SEC Tournament championship game, and this is the fourth year in a row we’ve faced them during the regular season,” Johnson said. “Tennessee is a very talented team, well-recruited with a lot of upside and future Major League players. They’ve renovated their stadium, and they have great fan support, so we’re looking forward to it. It’s a challenge our team hasn’t had yet, playing a road series in a very hostile environment.” 

He was not wrong about the environment. He was not wrong about the talent. 

GAME ONE - Friday, April 3: Mack’s Masterpiece, Stolen

Tennessee dropped game one 7-5 on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, despite a dazzling performance from sophomore right-hander Landon Mack. 

The sophomore logged a season-high seven innings and struck out 10, retiring the last 14 batters he faced. 

It was the kind of start that should win baseball games. It did not.

Right fielder Jake Brown got LSU on the board in the top of the third with a solo home run, but UT catcher Levi Clark answered right back in the bottom half by launching a solo blast into the second deck of the porches to tie the game at one.  For six innings, the crowd roared. Mack dealt and Tennessee nursed a 4-1 lead into the eighth inning. 

Then the avalanche. Trailing 4-1 in the top of the eighth, Derek Curiel stepped into the batter’s box with two outs and the bases loaded. The star sophomore centerfielder blasted a towering grand slam out the opposite way to reclaim the lead for LSU, 5-4. Seth Dardar followed with a solo shot of his own, and the Tigers went on to win 7-5. 

Stanfield added an insurance run in the top of the ninth with a solo home run of his own, pushing the score to 7-4. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Grimmer hit his fourth home run of the season to bring the Vols within two, but that would be all they would get as Deven Sheerin closed the door. 

Johnson praised his team’s resolve afterward. “Our team is gaining confidence, and they should be confident in any situation, including coming from behind to win. It’s a good example of the character of our team, and it’s especially impressive to do it on the road.” 

For Tennessee, the loss stung all the more because the Vols had won eight straight games against LSU in Knoxville dating back to 2021. It was a streak now snapped in the cruelest fashion possible, with the bullpen doing the dirty work in the eighth.

GAME TWO - Saturday, April 4: The Freshman Silences the Tigers

Tennessee needed a response. It got one from the last person most expected, a freshman from Chatham, Illinois.

Southpaw Cam Appenzeller was dominant in five shutout innings of relief. The freshman gave up a single to the very first batter he faced before retiring 15 batters in a row to finish the game. Appenzeller struck out six and did not issue a walk, earning his fourth win of the year. 

The Vols got the scoring started right away in the bottom of the first after a leadoff walk from Garrett Wright and a single from Blaine Brown put runners on first and third with one out. A Blake Grimmer ground ball then got past Tigers first baseman Zach Yorke, allowing both runners to score on the error, giving UT an early 2-0 lead. 

LSU got a run back in the top of the third after a line-drive single from left fielder Chris Stanfield struck Tennessee starter Tegan Kuhns in the back of the head, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Kuhns was shaken up on the play but remained in the game , in what head coach Josh Elander called a gritty performance.

Grimmer collected his second RBI of the night with a no-doubt bomb into the parking lot beyond the right field wall, pushing the Volunteers’ lead back to two. UT’s offense would add one more in the fourth inning as Jay Abernathy roped an RBI double down the right field line to extend the lead to three. 

The series was knotted. Rubber match. In SEC play this season, Appenzeller had been posting a 2-0 record in four appearances while tossing 18.1 scoreless innings with 19 strikeouts and just one walk, holding opposing hitters to a .150 batting average.  The midseason watch lists were already calling his name. Saturday night only deepened the young  legend.

GAME THREE - Sunday, April 5: Arrambide’s Easter

Some days belong to history. This was one of them. For the Vols it was a painful entry to the history books. Cade Arrambide, LSU’s eight-hole slugger, mashed four home runs, including a 12th-inning grand slam that handed the Tigers a series win on Easter Sunday. A once-five-run lead disintegrated with power from LSU, falling 16-6 in 12 innings at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. 

The Vols broke the game wide open with a trio of LSU errors. Garrett Wright turned in the first run of the game before Blaine Brown immediately made the Tigers pay, sneaking the first pitch he saw over the glove of Derek Curiel in center for a grand slam. The Vols led 5-0 and  touched the plate for five unearned runs. 

Tennessee starter Evan Blanco was staying alive. Blanco went 6.1 innings, striking out six batters and walking two. He allowed four hits, two solo home runs and recorded a pair of innings where he retired the side in order.  But both of those home runs belonged to Arrambide.

LSU refused to go away. In the ninth inning, the Tigers loaded the bases while head coach Jay Johnson was ejected from the game. Jake Brown sent a dribbler to second base that scored the tying run for the Tigers. Then came the 11th. Then came Arrambide again.

Arrambide’s third solo home run of the game in the 11th inning, which he tagged off the scoreboard, gave LSU the lead. Tennessee matched, however Brown led off the bottom of the inning with a single before tagging home on a Levi Clark sacrifice fly to the center-field wall. 

But the Vols couldn’t stop what was coming. The bases were juiced for Arrambide’s next plate appearance, and he pummeled the first pitch he saw for a grand slam to put LSU ahead 11-6. A two-run homer put the final punctuation on Tennessee’s 10-run loss in extra innings. 

Arrambide became the first player in LSU program history to hit four home runs in a game and reflected on the Tigers’ 12th-inning surge against the Volunteers.

The Aftermath

When the dust settled on Easter Sunday in Knoxville, LSU had taken the series two games to one.

Tennessee fell to 20-12 overall and 4-8 in SEC play. The Tigers improved to 22-11 and 6-6 in conference. Both teams entered unranked across polls. LSU enters the top 25 this week after the wins in Knoxville.

Tennessee has been one of the nation’s best at home this decade, posting a 202-39 record at Lindsey Nelson Stadium since 2020.  But on this Easter Sunday, there was no resurrecting the past. It’s gone. Coach Elander eluded to scars  from the past in his post game press conference:

“There has to be a belief that they can get it done together. I think what we’ve been through there is definitely some scars. We’re continuing to work through it. “

The good news for the Vols? They were a robbery of Levi Clark’s winning home run ball away from rewriting this story. There is some hope. And all you need is sliver of hope to reset.

Tennessee’s next game is:

• vs. Northern Kentucky Norse baseball

• 📅 Tuesday, April 7, 2026

• 🕕 6:00 PM ET

• 📍 Knoxville (home game)

After that midweek game, Tennessee hits the road for an SEC series with Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball starting April 10.

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