Tennessee baseball is home to possibly the best pitcher in the country this season.

Liam Doyle entered the weekend 9-2 with a 2.17 ERA in 14 appearances and 13 starts. Opponents were hitting just .145 against him as he notched a 0.80 WHIP.

However, the Vols' ace was touched up in Tennessee's 8-6 loss at Arkansas on Friday night. He only went 4.2 innings while allowing 11 hits, eight runs (six earned) and walking a pair. He did strikeout 10, as well.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Vols coach Tony Vitello did his best to explain what went wrong for Doyle after the game.

"Location wasn’t as good," Vitello said. "Started out with a couple of hits in front of our infielders and then a ball we lose in the sun. After that, they started to take some good swings against him. I don’t know if they knew what was coming or anything like that. Regardless, even if they don’t, they have confident hitters who are fully capable of taking good swings, as they did against our other guys. Our other guys were just able to battle and put up some zeros. So, if anything, him throwing a hundred pitches certainly helps us for tomorrow because of course we are right in the middle of a series and not just a game."

These game two struggles let the series be evened up. Doyle typically starts game ones, but was given a full week of rest as the series began on Thursday.

In the opener, typical game two starter Marcus Phillips was bumped up. He pitched well, going 4.1 innings and only allowing three runs.

Splitting the opening two games now creates a winner-take-all scenario on Saturday. The game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET and will air on SEC Network.

"Come out and play," Vitello said on the message to the team. "Little bit of what we have seen so far this weekend and the last few days as far as information or adjustment you make, but to be honest with you, not of it was really groundbreaking. It was more about coming out tomorrow and paying ball."

Tennessee will pitch true freshman Tegan Kuhns in game three. He has 13 appearances and eight starts where he has racked up a 2-2 record and 3.78 ERA.

Opponents are hitting .263 off of him and have hit five home runs in 33.1 innings pitched.

For Arkansas, Gage Wood is scheduled to start. He has six appearances, all starts, where he has earned a 5.51 ERA and 1-1 record.

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.