Max Ferguson walk-off homer lifts Vols past top-ranked Hogs to even series
When Arkansas gathered around for a mound visit with runners on first and second, and no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Tony Vitello immediately called Max Ferguson over for a meeting that included hitting coach Josh Elander.
The conversation centered around whether or not to have Ferguson bunt or swing away.
After a bloop single from Connor Pavolony and a walk to Liam Spence, Ferguson represented the winning run with the No. 4 Vols trailing the Razorbacks 7-5. A bunt would advance the runners into scoring position, including Spence who represented the tying-run. Letting Ferguson swing away, however, could result in a drastic change in momentum.
Either option was a strong one. Ferguson had already proved he could do either, having bunted for a hit in the first inning and hitting a solo home run over the scoreboard in the seventh inning.
Tennessee (39-12, 18-8 SEC) elected to allow Ferguson to swing away. On the first pitch he saw from Razorback freshman Jaxon Wiggins, Ferguson launched his second home run of the game, a three-run walk-off homer to lift the Vols past No. 1 Arkansas 8-7.
What led to the Vols electing to swing away? It wasn’t Vitello, Ferguson or Elander. It was pitching coach Frank Anderson.
“The conversation that was had was do what you think you need to do,” Vitello said after the game. “The guy is a winner. It was really about him doing whatever he thought he needed to do to help us win the game. Frank, as he does so bluntly, spoke forward and I think he used some curse words and said you might as well hit it over the bleeping fence.”
“(Anderson) asked me what we were going to do,” Ferguson added. “I said ‘he left it up to me. What do you want?’ He was like, ‘I want a three-run jack here.’ It was pretty cool to see Coach (Anderson) have that belief in me there and the rest of the coaching staff let me do what I wanted to do there.”
Ferguson’s 11th home run of the season evened the series at a game apiece after Arkansas won 6-5 on Friday night. It also pulled the Vols even with the Hogs (38-10, 18-8 SEC) for first place in the SEC standings with just four games remaining.
“The last two nights are staple SEC games,” Vitello said. “I don’t know if our kids feel like they have anything to prove. They just want to be in a category where they are on the hunt for special things at the end of each year. To be in that category, you have to play with the teams in our league that are always able to do that.”
Will Heflin allowed Tennessee to play with the Hogs on Saturday. The senior lefty made his last career regular season start at Lindsey Nelson Stadium and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Heflin didn’t allow a baserunner to reach until the fifth and finished with six strikeouts.
The East Tennessee native has been a good luck charm for the Vols this season. Tennessee has lost the opener of a series just three times and each time, Heflin has started the next day and led his club to a win. That includes a win over then-ranked No. 2 Vanderbilt in April in addition to a win over the top-ranked Hogs on Saturday.
“There is no data point or explanation for how that stuff happens,” Heflin said. “You just get a group of guys together who know how to compete.
“I wanted people to be excited about baseball in Knoxville. We had to give them a reason to. To say I envisioned it, yes I did, but it took a lot of hard work.”
Tennessee now turns to the series finale with Arkansas. Freshman Blade Tidwell will start on the mound and look to lead the Vols to a significant SEC series win that would give them sole possession of first place heading into the final weekend of conference play.
“This is a three-round bout,” Vitello said. “Fortunately for us, we have a chance to go into tomorrow and do what everyone’s goal is and that is to win the series.”
First pitch on Sunday is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.