Drew Gilbert hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium to lift the Vols past Wright State 9-8 in their first home regional game since 2005.
Gilbert’s walk-off was the seventh of the season for Tennessee, which is the second-most in all of college baseball. UT entered the season not having hit a walk-off homer since 2010. It’s now hit four just this season alone.
Tennessee (46-16) improved to 8-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament openers on Friday. It was, however, the first time the Vols opened postseason play with a win since 2005.
Pandemonium Reigns
Gilbert’s walk-off grand slam to beat Wright State (35-12) was his first home run since March 28 … which also happened to be a walk-off home run when the Volunteer centerfielder hit a walk-off solo homer to beat LSU.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a good feeling,” Gilbert said following the game. “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.”
Vols catcher Connor Pavolony set the stage for Gilbert’s seventh home run of the season. Tennessee entered the ninth trailing 8-5 and Pavolony lined a hard infield single to reach base with no outs. After Liam Spence lined out to right for the first out of the inning, Max Ferguson hit an opposite field single to put runners on the corners.
Wright State elected to change pitches after the Ferguson knock, bringing in Austin Cline (L, 8-2). Cline walked the first batter he faced in Jake Rucker, setting the stage for Gilbert’s theatrics.
“It’s hard to put any rational thought to that one,” Vols head coach Tony Vitello said. “Literally a blood and guts game; I’m bleeding somehow — probably my own doing.
“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.”
Wright State breaks out the power bats
The supposed four-seed in the Knoxville Regional made it tough on the Vols. Wright State clobbered five home on the evening to put Tennessee up against the ropes on multiple occasions.
State came out swinging in the first inning, as second baseman Quincy Black hit his first of two home runs to give his team an early 2-0 lead.
Tennessee responded well to Black’s homer, scoring five runs over the next three innings to take a 5-2 lead. Luc Lipcius got the Vols on the board with a solo homer in the bottom of the second, before Pavolony gave them the lead with a two-run shot off the right field foul pole. Ferguson then hit a solo homer into the bullpen and Lipcius drove in his second run of the game on an RBI single to round out the inning.
“A lot of challenges and quirky things have happened this year,” Vitello said. “If the going gets tough, they get tough. And if they get punched in the mouth, then they get even a little bit tougher.”
Wright State responded well to the Vols storming back from an early deficit. The Raiders hit a solo homer in the fourth and fifth to cut the lead to 5-4 courtesy of Black’s second home run and left fielder Alex Alders’ first of two. Centerfielder Quincy Hamilton then stepped to the plate in the seventh and crushed a three-run homer to give the Raiders a 7-5 lead.
“That Wright State lineup is as physical as ours and as talented as ours,” Vitello said. “So, what you have is a really evenly matched game. Fortunately, what we did during the regular season got us home-field advantage.”
Alder would then hit his second homer of the game in the eighth to extend the Wright State lead to 8-5.
Dallas and Hunley struggle
Chad Dallas — who is nicknamed Cheese — got the start for the Vols on the bump on National Cheese Day. Dallas made some nice pitches at times, but also made some pitches he would like to have back.
Dallas gave up four runs on four hits in 4.1 innings. Three of the four hits he gave up were home runs and all four were extra base hits. The junior right-hander walked two and struck out five.
Tennessee’s top option out of the bullpen also would like to have some pitches back. Senior Sean Hunley relieved Dallas in the fifth inning and got the Vols out of a jam with one out and runners on first and second, but would go on to give up four runs on six hits.
Hunley struck out five and didn’t walk anybody, but the three-run homer he gave up to Hamilton in the seventh and the solo homer he gave up to Alders in the eighth were backbreakers at the time.
“Alders put a good swing on a slider and you realize now you are down an extra run,” Vitello said. “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.”
Redmond Walsh (W, 5-1) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth inning to keep the deficit at three runs.
A team of … destiny?
Tennessee has now had three moments this season in which some teams don’t see over the course of a decade. Maybe even two decades.
Between the Evan Russell grand slam in the eighth inning against Vanderbilt, the Ferguson three-run walk-off to beat Arkansas and Gilbert’s blast to knock off Wright State, this team just might be one of destiny.
Regardless, it’s a special bunch of players and coaches who are pumping life into a Tennessee fanbase that desperately needs it.
On to the winner’s bracket
Tennessee advances to the winner’s bracket of the Knoxville Regional with the win. The Vols will now face Liberty (40-14) at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday night looking to advance to the regional championship game.
The Flames beat Duke 11-6 prior to the Vols’ dramatic win over Wright State. Ace lefty Trevor Delaite pitched into the eighth inning and designated hitter Brady Gulakowski hit two three-run home runs to lift the Flames past the Blue Devils.
“We know plenty (about Liberty) because of two years ago,” Vitello said. “Coach (Scott) Jackson is not afraid to play anybody. They came over late notice and we played a Tuesday game. Obviously, we played them twice in the region as well, and what you’ve got is an incredibly well coached team up and down the lineup. They are athletic, and they have good swings. Pitching wise, they threw their guy today, and I see why they like playing behind him.
“It’s very difficult to talk to your kids in the outfield and say we’re in the middle of a tournament here. This was not a walk-off on a Sunday. It’s kind of a chance to replay the Arkansas situation, where it was such an emotional situation on Saturday with Fergy helping us win game two. You’ve got to bounce back and play.”
Freshman Blade Tidwell (8-3, 3.47) is expected to start for Tennessee.
