Tennessee took the regional opener Friday night in highly dramatic fashion as Drew Gilbert’s walk off grand slam sent the Vols to the winner’s bracket.
Wright State 8 10 0
Tennessee 9 12 1
W — Redmond Walsh, L — Austin Cline
Notes
I’ll have an article tonight on Tennessee's unbelievable ability to find a way, but I’ll start there anyway. Tennessee looked dead in the water after Wright State took the lead on a three-run homer in the seventh inning and extended its lead to three with a solo homer in the eighth inning. Despite having just one baserunner in the three inning prior, Tennessee miraculously scored four runs in large part due to Drew Gilbert’s walk off grand slam.
I wrote about it in the 3-2-1 a while back but you just don’t get this many surreal moments from a team in a season. Heck, you hardly don’t get this many surreal moments in a decade, and Tennessee baseball certainly hasn't had any recently. Entering this season Tennessee hadn’t had a walk off home run since 2010. They have four this season.
Wright State’s lineup lived up to all the hype entering the weekend. The Raiders tattooed some balls, hitting five home runs while Tyler Black and Quincy Hamilton looked like future MLB players.
While it wasn’t his best performance, I didn’t think Chad Dallas was awful either. He gave up four hits and four earned runs in 4.1 innings but this was a really bad lineup for him. He looked solid for much of his outing but struggled giving up home runs and tied his second shortest outing of the season
Sean Hunley’s struggles were more surprising and more detrimental for Tennessee. Hunley cruised through his first 1.2 innings but ran into trouble in the seventh when Wright State’s eight and nine hitter singled and set up for Hamilton’s go-ahead blast. Then after retiring the first two batters of the eighth inning he hung an 0-2 pitch that Alex Alders sent deep to right field to give Wright State some wiggle room.
Tennessee’s offense hit the ball well all night, tallying four home runs as Luc Lipcius, Connor Pavolony, Max Ferguson and Drew Gilbert all went deep. Leaving runners on base was Tennessee’s problem. The Vols were 1-of-9 with runners in-scoring position before Gilbert’s walk off and stranded a one-out double in the fourth inning and leadoff doubles in the fifth and sixth inning.
One final thought, I think the crowd made a massive difference in the ninth inning. Tennessee seemed without juice and the Vols’ crowd was on their feet from the beginning of the inning and I think really rattled the Wright State pitchers.
Tennessee returns to action in a massive game two tomorrow, facing No. 3 Liberty at 6 p.m. ET.
Quotes
Tony Vitello on his perspective of the ninth inning and grand slam
“In Liam’s (Spence) at-bat—the out in the inning—was just as good as any of the at bats, if you’re going coach critique. It’s the reason you fight to play at home. The inning was basically kind of what you would like your guys to do every inning and have that sense of urgency and that ‘We’re not going to go away’ or ‘We’re not going to die’ type deal. It’s tough to do. You have to play the situation. In the ninth inning on your field, it makes it a little more comfortable. And all those at-bats were guys grinding it out, trying to get on base for the guy behind him. Fortunately, the guy who still has his shin guard on his leg (Drew Gilbert) got the last say there.”
Vitello on the crowd in the ninth inning
“The crowd was enormous. It goes back to what (Connor Pavolony) was talking about earlier with the Arkansas game. In the ninth inning, that environment was all people would talk about. Our fans, recruits, players and certainly you’d like your current players to create their own environment when they show up to work every day and make it one that’s going to put them in a position for success. But, that’s tough to duplicate what was going on there in the ninth inning (tonight).”
Vitello on if he believed his team was rattled after the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning
“I skipped over a question as well that does relate to (Sean) Hunley. I don’t think our guys were rattled. The fans were actually on us, staying in it. You’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt, and in that situation, Alders put a good swing on a slider and you realize now you are down an extra run. If anything, from my standpoint, Sean Hunley has got us out of so many jams, and he did so in this game. You kind of let your personal emotions get involved, and we asked him to do a ton today—a little out of the norm. So, you just hate for the kid not to have personal success. I think there was a sense of calm, quite confidence in our dugout. It’s like, ‘Ok, it’s a bit bigger challenge,’ but it is kind of what we have been dealing with since Connor Pavolony showed up on our campus as well as our coaching staff. A lot of challenges and quirky things have happened this year, and things have happened that I can’t explain that people have asked me to. These guys—as Drew alluded to—if the going gets tough, they get tough. And if they get punched in the mouth, then they get even a little bit tougher.”
Drew Gilbert on his walk off home run
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a good feeling. I think all that kind of stems from having our teammates all year trying to have each other’s back. In a big situation like that, you can’t let your mind race to a bunch of different places. I just tried to let my mind shut off and just react, and I know my teammates got my back and I tried to have theirs there.”
Gilbert on his ability to perform in big moments
“Earlier in the year, coach Vitello talked about—after our first walk-off (win)—how you get the first one and the other ones kind of come, too. I think it stemmed from us just kind of realizing that we’re never out of the game. The game’s not over until the third out in the ninth inning. We just tried to get the next guy up to the plate. We don’t quit playing until the game’s over. I think that’s kind of where it stems from.”
Wright State 8 10 0
Tennessee 9 12 1
W — Redmond Walsh, L — Austin Cline
Notes
I’ll have an article tonight on Tennessee's unbelievable ability to find a way, but I’ll start there anyway. Tennessee looked dead in the water after Wright State took the lead on a three-run homer in the seventh inning and extended its lead to three with a solo homer in the eighth inning. Despite having just one baserunner in the three inning prior, Tennessee miraculously scored four runs in large part due to Drew Gilbert’s walk off grand slam.
I wrote about it in the 3-2-1 a while back but you just don’t get this many surreal moments from a team in a season. Heck, you hardly don’t get this many surreal moments in a decade, and Tennessee baseball certainly hasn't had any recently. Entering this season Tennessee hadn’t had a walk off home run since 2010. They have four this season.
Wright State’s lineup lived up to all the hype entering the weekend. The Raiders tattooed some balls, hitting five home runs while Tyler Black and Quincy Hamilton looked like future MLB players.
While it wasn’t his best performance, I didn’t think Chad Dallas was awful either. He gave up four hits and four earned runs in 4.1 innings but this was a really bad lineup for him. He looked solid for much of his outing but struggled giving up home runs and tied his second shortest outing of the season
Sean Hunley’s struggles were more surprising and more detrimental for Tennessee. Hunley cruised through his first 1.2 innings but ran into trouble in the seventh when Wright State’s eight and nine hitter singled and set up for Hamilton’s go-ahead blast. Then after retiring the first two batters of the eighth inning he hung an 0-2 pitch that Alex Alders sent deep to right field to give Wright State some wiggle room.
Tennessee’s offense hit the ball well all night, tallying four home runs as Luc Lipcius, Connor Pavolony, Max Ferguson and Drew Gilbert all went deep. Leaving runners on base was Tennessee’s problem. The Vols were 1-of-9 with runners in-scoring position before Gilbert’s walk off and stranded a one-out double in the fourth inning and leadoff doubles in the fifth and sixth inning.
One final thought, I think the crowd made a massive difference in the ninth inning. Tennessee seemed without juice and the Vols’ crowd was on their feet from the beginning of the inning and I think really rattled the Wright State pitchers.
Tennessee returns to action in a massive game two tomorrow, facing No. 3 Liberty at 6 p.m. ET.
Quotes
Tony Vitello on his perspective of the ninth inning and grand slam
“In Liam’s (Spence) at-bat—the out in the inning—was just as good as any of the at bats, if you’re going coach critique. It’s the reason you fight to play at home. The inning was basically kind of what you would like your guys to do every inning and have that sense of urgency and that ‘We’re not going to go away’ or ‘We’re not going to die’ type deal. It’s tough to do. You have to play the situation. In the ninth inning on your field, it makes it a little more comfortable. And all those at-bats were guys grinding it out, trying to get on base for the guy behind him. Fortunately, the guy who still has his shin guard on his leg (Drew Gilbert) got the last say there.”
Vitello on the crowd in the ninth inning
“The crowd was enormous. It goes back to what (Connor Pavolony) was talking about earlier with the Arkansas game. In the ninth inning, that environment was all people would talk about. Our fans, recruits, players and certainly you’d like your current players to create their own environment when they show up to work every day and make it one that’s going to put them in a position for success. But, that’s tough to duplicate what was going on there in the ninth inning (tonight).”
Vitello on if he believed his team was rattled after the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning
“I skipped over a question as well that does relate to (Sean) Hunley. I don’t think our guys were rattled. The fans were actually on us, staying in it. You’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt, and in that situation, Alders put a good swing on a slider and you realize now you are down an extra run. If anything, from my standpoint, Sean Hunley has got us out of so many jams, and he did so in this game. You kind of let your personal emotions get involved, and we asked him to do a ton today—a little out of the norm. So, you just hate for the kid not to have personal success. I think there was a sense of calm, quite confidence in our dugout. It’s like, ‘Ok, it’s a bit bigger challenge,’ but it is kind of what we have been dealing with since Connor Pavolony showed up on our campus as well as our coaching staff. A lot of challenges and quirky things have happened this year, and things have happened that I can’t explain that people have asked me to. These guys—as Drew alluded to—if the going gets tough, they get tough. And if they get punched in the mouth, then they get even a little bit tougher.”
Drew Gilbert on his walk off home run
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a good feeling. I think all that kind of stems from having our teammates all year trying to have each other’s back. In a big situation like that, you can’t let your mind race to a bunch of different places. I just tried to let my mind shut off and just react, and I know my teammates got my back and I tried to have theirs there.”
Gilbert on his ability to perform in big moments
“Earlier in the year, coach Vitello talked about—after our first walk-off (win)—how you get the first one and the other ones kind of come, too. I think it stemmed from us just kind of realizing that we’re never out of the game. The game’s not over until the third out in the ninth inning. We just tried to get the next guy up to the plate. We don’t quit playing until the game’s over. I think that’s kind of where it stems from.”
