Tennessee vs – Tennessee was leading Oklahoma 5-3 in the seventh inning when lightning forced Game 2 to be suspended and moved to May 16. The Vols can clinch the SEC series win if they finish strong when play resumes at 2 p.m. ET.
Lightning ended Tennessee’s push for an SEC series win at the worst possible moment.
At 8:48 CT, Game 2 of Tennessee’s last SEC series against Oklahoma was officially suspended after a lightning strike came within eight miles of Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. The Vols were ahead 5-3 in the seventh inning when umpires stopped play.
The game will resume on May 16 at 2 p.m. ET, with the third game of the series set to begin about 45 minutes after Game 2 concludes. A Game 2 win would give Tennessee its first back-to-back SEC series wins this season.
Before the delay, Tennessee looked like it had a plan—and when Oklahoma threatened in the sixth, it answered.. Evan Blanco faced his most trouble since the first inning when the Sooners loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.. With his 99th pitch of the night, Blanco induced a groundout to third to escape, keeping the score 5-3.
The margin Tennessee carried into the seventh grew from timely offense earlier in the game.. Trent Grindlinger delivered a two-RBI single to right field with two outs in the top of the third. scoring Jay Abernathy and Blake Grimmer to put Tennessee up 4-3.. After that, the Vols kept rolling, scoring four straight runs after falling behind 3-0.
Tennessee’s turnaround didn’t come out of thin air. Blaine Brown led off the third with an infield single, and Manny Marin drove him in with an RBI triple into the left-center field gap. Abernathy then scored Marin on another infield single to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 3-2.
Oklahoma, though, started fast again—taking early control for the second straight night.. After a leadoff walk by Jason Walk, Camden Johnson crushed a two-run home run to center field.. Oklahoma added another run when Trey Gambill grounded into a double play and brought a runner home from third. pushing the score to 3-0.
Tennessee took the lead later with help that swung momentum in a hurry.. In the top of the fifth. Grimmer reached on a sequence that set up Henry Ford’s crucial ground-ball moment: Blake Grimmer was on first. and Ford hit a ground ball to third that slipped through the legs of Camden Johnson before rolling around in left field long enough for Grimmer to score.. The play was ruled an error, but it still added to the Vols’ edge.
Henry Ford and Levi Clark also provided the kind of power that tends to change how a series feels. In the fifth and sixth innings, both hit two-run home runs—Clark in the fifth and Ford in the sixth—helping Tennessee build toward the 5-3 advantage it held when the sky turned dangerous.
The Vols are entering this weekend already up from their May 14 win, when they beat Oklahoma 9-7. Their record heading into Game 2 is 36-18 overall and 14-14 in SEC play, while the Sooners sit at 31-10 overall and 13-15 in conference.
After the May 14 victory, coach Josh Elander praised his team’s grit. “I think gritty is a great word,” he said. “I loved the way they competed. Got punched in the mouth right out of the gate, and a good job by our offense by staying in it and stacking a couple good innings back-to-back.”
With Game 2 paused, Tennessee now has to pick up where it left off on May 16—still ahead, still one step closer to a series clincher, and just one restart away from finding out how the lightning delay reshapes the rest of the matchup.
Tennessee baseball Oklahoma baseball Game 2 suspended lightning delay SEC series Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Evan Blanco Henry Ford Levi Clark