Tennessee takes the series opener over Florida in a back-and-forth high intensity game.
Florida 4 7 0
Tennessee 6 11 1
W — Chad Dallas, L — Christian Scott
Notes
Tennessee saved all its timely hits from last weekend for tonight as the Vols drove in four of their six runs with two outs. Including back-to-back two-out hits from Jake Rucker and Drew Gilbert in the fifth inning to score a run and then a huge insurance run in the eighth thanks to a solo home run from Evan Russsell, who looked really solid at the plate today.
This team continues to just roll with the punches. Vols took a 4-2 lead into the seventh before the Gators quickly tied the game up and put two runners on base with nobody out thanks to some poor defense and Florida’s third solo homer of the game. Even when Tennessee failed to get an out after successfully getting the Gators in a run down (on what was a very bad call the runner was out) Tennessee and starter Chad Dallas stayed strong, getting a strikeout and a 4-6 double play to end the scoring threat. Then the Vols quickly reclaimed the lead with a Liam Spence double, Max Ferguson bunt single and Jake Rucker sac fly.
Chad Dallas bounced back strong from his worst outing of the season, throwing seven innings while allowing four runs, three earned runs, six hits and an impressive 11 strikeouts to zero walks. Dallas gave up a trio of solo homers but besides that was really excellent keeping Florida batters off balance all night. I thought it was telling that Vitello kept him in through the damage in the seventh inning.
Sean Hunley did what he does best closing things out with relative ease. Florida’s star freshman Nathan Hickey nearly took him deep in his first at-bat but the ball narrowly stayed in the park and Hunley retired all six of the batters he faced. Hunley threw just 18 pitches too meaning he should be available for a steady dose of work on Sunday.
Vols will go for the series win tomorrow with Will Heflin on the bump. First pitch set for 7 p.m. ET.
Quotes
Tony Vitello on the two-out hitting
“Frank called it the run we got in the eighth, it’s just hard to put into words how big a run that is but the guys had some fight to them tonight and it made it tough on the other pitchers to finish the inning. We obviously saw some great stuff but even in the at-bats we didn’t see production there seemed to be a little extra push from our guys to either extend the inning or capitalize when we were able to get guys on base.”
Vitello on his team’s ability to bounce back when Florida threw punches at them
“Composure is a great word because I think we handled a sloppy seventh inning well or as well as we could have— we weaseled out of it if you want to call it that. Sean Hunley brings composure out of the ‘pen in a tough situation but I think composure is a great word to describe the group’s mentality— where it’s at right now and the vibe that they put off. I think that kind of stems from that deal they have going on right now.”
Vitello on trusting Dallas to pitch through the jam in the seventh
“Part of it was it was his game. There were some other things that went into it but I think a pretty good rule of thumb is to go with who you think the best guy is in the situation and for whatever reason my gut told me it was Sean Hunley really early in the game last week at Alabama and I don’t know if that was fair to Chad. He’s kind of the horse we’re going to ride here as we move through the end of the year. He has the stuff to get guys out and the way he was throwing the ball was better than last week. He was under control and had conviction and even his misses were good, but ultimately for me the strategic answer was — he had taken ownership of that game and it was his game to sway one way or another.”
Chad Dallas on the seventh inning
“I still kept my composure. As a pitcher throwing strikes is your job and you’re going to miss every once in a while and a couple times they made me pay for those mistakes but that’s what a good team does. Keeping my composure and trusting the guys behind me was all I really could do. Just try to do my best for them while they do the same for me.”
Dallas on he can live with giving up solo homers
“Yeah that’s part of the game. My job is to fill up strikes and do my best for the team and what’s best for the team is throwing strikes and like I said when you throw strikes you’ll miss every once in a while and good teams like Florida will make you pay for those mistakes. Just proud of the way the team had my back and kept fighting in the box and scratching some runs off.
Dallas to end his presser
“X gonna give it to ya”
Evan Russell on why he likes hitting in big moments
“I enjoy the big moments. I’m not going to end the year and be like ‘man that was a cool homer in the midweek’ no offense to the midweek teams. These are the moments I enjoy and am going to look back on as one of my cooler moments as a Tennessee Volunteer. That’s the one thing— I don’t really fear those moments. I enjoy being in the box in a big spot whether it goes good or bad.”
Florida 4 7 0
Tennessee 6 11 1
W — Chad Dallas, L — Christian Scott
Notes
Tennessee saved all its timely hits from last weekend for tonight as the Vols drove in four of their six runs with two outs. Including back-to-back two-out hits from Jake Rucker and Drew Gilbert in the fifth inning to score a run and then a huge insurance run in the eighth thanks to a solo home run from Evan Russsell, who looked really solid at the plate today.
This team continues to just roll with the punches. Vols took a 4-2 lead into the seventh before the Gators quickly tied the game up and put two runners on base with nobody out thanks to some poor defense and Florida’s third solo homer of the game. Even when Tennessee failed to get an out after successfully getting the Gators in a run down (on what was a very bad call the runner was out) Tennessee and starter Chad Dallas stayed strong, getting a strikeout and a 4-6 double play to end the scoring threat. Then the Vols quickly reclaimed the lead with a Liam Spence double, Max Ferguson bunt single and Jake Rucker sac fly.
Chad Dallas bounced back strong from his worst outing of the season, throwing seven innings while allowing four runs, three earned runs, six hits and an impressive 11 strikeouts to zero walks. Dallas gave up a trio of solo homers but besides that was really excellent keeping Florida batters off balance all night. I thought it was telling that Vitello kept him in through the damage in the seventh inning.
Sean Hunley did what he does best closing things out with relative ease. Florida’s star freshman Nathan Hickey nearly took him deep in his first at-bat but the ball narrowly stayed in the park and Hunley retired all six of the batters he faced. Hunley threw just 18 pitches too meaning he should be available for a steady dose of work on Sunday.
Vols will go for the series win tomorrow with Will Heflin on the bump. First pitch set for 7 p.m. ET.
Quotes
Tony Vitello on the two-out hitting
“Frank called it the run we got in the eighth, it’s just hard to put into words how big a run that is but the guys had some fight to them tonight and it made it tough on the other pitchers to finish the inning. We obviously saw some great stuff but even in the at-bats we didn’t see production there seemed to be a little extra push from our guys to either extend the inning or capitalize when we were able to get guys on base.”
Vitello on his team’s ability to bounce back when Florida threw punches at them
“Composure is a great word because I think we handled a sloppy seventh inning well or as well as we could have— we weaseled out of it if you want to call it that. Sean Hunley brings composure out of the ‘pen in a tough situation but I think composure is a great word to describe the group’s mentality— where it’s at right now and the vibe that they put off. I think that kind of stems from that deal they have going on right now.”
Vitello on trusting Dallas to pitch through the jam in the seventh
“Part of it was it was his game. There were some other things that went into it but I think a pretty good rule of thumb is to go with who you think the best guy is in the situation and for whatever reason my gut told me it was Sean Hunley really early in the game last week at Alabama and I don’t know if that was fair to Chad. He’s kind of the horse we’re going to ride here as we move through the end of the year. He has the stuff to get guys out and the way he was throwing the ball was better than last week. He was under control and had conviction and even his misses were good, but ultimately for me the strategic answer was — he had taken ownership of that game and it was his game to sway one way or another.”
Chad Dallas on the seventh inning
“I still kept my composure. As a pitcher throwing strikes is your job and you’re going to miss every once in a while and a couple times they made me pay for those mistakes but that’s what a good team does. Keeping my composure and trusting the guys behind me was all I really could do. Just try to do my best for them while they do the same for me.”
Dallas on he can live with giving up solo homers
“Yeah that’s part of the game. My job is to fill up strikes and do my best for the team and what’s best for the team is throwing strikes and like I said when you throw strikes you’ll miss every once in a while and good teams like Florida will make you pay for those mistakes. Just proud of the way the team had my back and kept fighting in the box and scratching some runs off.
Dallas to end his presser
“X gonna give it to ya”
Evan Russell on why he likes hitting in big moments
“I enjoy the big moments. I’m not going to end the year and be like ‘man that was a cool homer in the midweek’ no offense to the midweek teams. These are the moments I enjoy and am going to look back on as one of my cooler moments as a Tennessee Volunteer. That’s the one thing— I don’t really fear those moments. I enjoy being in the box in a big spot whether it goes good or bad.”
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