The No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers won't be No. 2 much longer.
Tennessee opened the Southeastern Conference portion of its baseball schedule this weekend at Missouri and was resoundingly thumped, getting swept in the three-game series by a combined 23-6. Missouri rolled to a 9-1 victory Friday night and won a pair of seven-inning games Sunday by scores of 7-4 and 7-1.
The Vols were swept for the first time since a 2019 trip to Arkansas and are 0-3 in SEC play for the first time since that same season, when they opened at Auburn.
In Sunday's duo of debacles, Tennessee committed as many errors — five — as runs scored, and Vols coach Tony Vitello was ejected in the third inning of the opening game. The sweep left the Vols with a 15-6 overall mark.
Designated hitter Dalton Bargo's two-run home run to right-center field off Chase Burns highlighted a three-run first inning for Mizzou in the opener. The Tigers led 5-0 through three innings before the Vols got on the board in the fourth via a Maui Ahuna RBI single to center.
Mizzou (16-3) answered in the fourth and the fifth to take a 7-1 lead before Tennessee got cosmetic homers from Griffin Merritt and Zane Denton. Burns allowed eight hits and seven runs in five innings but did rack up 12 strikeouts.
Three errors in the second game doomed the Vols, along with Mizzou starting pitcher Austin Troesser, who worked nearly five innings without allowing a hit and struck out five batters. A Hunter Ensley single to right scored Jared Dickey to account for Tennessee's lone run.
Tennessee will try to rebound Tuesday night against visiting Western Carolina before hosting Texas A&M this weekend.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.