Tennessee’s second outing in this year’s SEC Tournament went much smoother than its opener.
Less than 24 hours after the Vols were snubbed of a walk-off victory over Alabama, Tony Vitello’s club defeated 3-seed Mississippi State 12-2 in eight innings courtesy of the run rule. The Vols avoided elimination with the win in the midst of picking up their first win in the SEC Tournament since 2007.
“That might have been our best, or at the very least, one of our best wins of the year when you throw all circumstances out there on the table,” Vitello told reporters following the game. “Coming back from yesterday, not a lot of sleep, early wake-up, facing a guy that came into the SEC labeled as one of the best lefties in the conference and one of the best closers in the country sitting down there waiting too.
“It's a tough group, tough group of kids. We didn't have any magic speech or anything like that. They just like to compete, and they kind of seem to like the bounce-back thing more than anything.”
Offense Strikes Early and Often
Tennessee (43-15) scored just two runs over 11 innings in its 3-2 loss to the Crimson Tide on Wednesday afternoon. Despite a local start time of 9:30 the next morning, the Vols doubled that run total against Mississippi State (40-15) in the second inning alone.
Senior designated hitter Pete Derkay sparked his team with a three-run homer with two outs to give his team an early 3-0 lead. Catcher Connor Pavolony doubled to left field in the very next at-bat, setting up Liam Spence to hit an RBI single back up the middle to help the Vols put up a four-spot in the frame.
“Was really trying to hit a ball back up the middle,” Derkay said of his third homer of the season. “He kind of left me a little mistake over the middle, put a good swing on it. I had to talk to it a little bit to get over, but luckily it did.”
Derkay’s blast over the right-center fence was the first of many runs on the day for the Vols. They wasted little time extending the lead, as over the middle innings, they scored a run in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth to extend their lead to 8-1.
Tennessee right fielder Jordan Back hit a solo home run in the fourth, his team-leading 14th home run of the season. Drew Gilbert hit an RBI single in the fifth and Max Ferguson hit an RBI single in the sixth, after scoring in the prior inning on a double-steal.
“I feel if you put together competitive or quality at bats, odds will be in your favor,” Vitello said. “Those guys are willing to put bad at-bats behind them and compete or put a bad swing behind them. Again, if you have those types of at-bats, you'll find enough holes. Mississippi State hammered a couple of balls too that we caught too, but at the end of the day, you make your own breaks.”
Tennessee went on to run-rule the Bulldogs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Vols needed just four runs to put the tournament-only 10-run rule after seven innings into motion and they did just that.
Back, Derkay and Pavolony all singled to lead off the inning and load the bases with no outs. After Spence walked in a run, Ferguson doubled down the right field line to bring in a pair of runs, setting up Gilbert to drive in the winning run on an RBI single.
“We have a really good team and have a really good lineup, one through nine,” Derkay said. “Just trying to put together a quality at-bat and get it to the next guy, and we did that very well today.”
After hitting 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position against Alabama and leaving 11 runners on base, the Vols were 7-for-13 with runners on and only stranded four runners against the Bulldogs.
Chad Dallas shines
While the offense was rolling all day long, Tennessee’s Friday night starter held a talented Mississippi State lineup in check.
Chad Dallas (W, 10-1) worked into some trouble in the third inning, allowing a run to score and loading the bases with one out, but got out of the inning and cruised the remainder of the game. He earned his 10th victory of the year, moving into the top 10 in a single season in program history. Dallas tied five other players on the list: James Adkins (2005), Wyatt Allen (2001), Jamie Bennett (2000), Michael Cosgrove (1997) and Ryan Meyers (1995).
His 10 wins are the most by a Tennessee pitcher since 2005 when Adkins had 10 and Luke Hochevar set a program record with 15.
“For me, I knew they were a really good team, well-hitting team,” Dallas said. “Nothing was free out there on the mound, but I knew that they had never seen me in person. So I knew that it was a challenge for them as it was a challenge for me. So really it was just attack their hitters and see what they can do. Offense got off to a really good start, and defense played really well on top of that.
“It's a big accomplishment for me hearing that and I take that with pride. It's been really fun playing with these guys and playing with this program and coaches. I just keep looking forward to the next game.”
Dallas allowed just one earned run on six hits over 6.2 innings of work, while giving up just one walk. On 93 pitches — 60 of which were strikes — he struck out a pair of Bulldogs.
“The beauty of coaching that kid (Dallas) is you've kind of got a level of consistency there,” Vitello said. “He's not perfect, nor is anyone else. But you kind of get a consistent lead into the weekend or lead into the game, and I've said it over a million time — our guys really love that, and they play behind them. We got a normal Chad Dallas, and then we also got Chad when he's at his best, like I said, when his back's up against the wall a little bit.
“He got us where we needed to be, three times through the order. Leave the game with a lead against an SEC team, that's huge. The one good thing is we didn't have to overtax him. Yes, he started almost every weekend this year, but there was a weekend where there was a little bit of a break. We typically kind of ease our guys into longer starts early in the season. And on top of that, I really can't reflect or remember an outing where we pushed him to the brink where he was well over 100 pitches. Nothing's perfect, but it worked out well.”
A rare win in Hoover
Tennessee snapped a seven-game losing streak at the SEC Tournament with the win. Prior to Thursday, the Vols' last win in Hoover was a 6-4 victory over Vanderbilt on May 23, 2007. UT also improved to 4-2 against Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament with the win.
It wasn’t an easy matchup on paper for the Vols considering Mississippi State was throwing its ace combined with the early start. But Tennessee was also throwing its ace, and on this day, its ace was better.
The Vols chased Christian MacLeod (L, 5-4) after just four innings and touched him up for five earned runs on five hits, a walk, and two home runs. State even trotted its No. 2 starter — sophomore RHP Will Bednar — in out of the pen and its best reliever — sophomore RHP Landon Sims. UT touched up those two as well for seven earned runs on 10 hits and two walks in 2.1 innings.
“It's nice to hear people talk about winning the division or winning a certain amount of games in our league, but to this point, we've done a lot of good things,” Vitello said. “Adversity's kind of been thrown at them, just as it is at every other club, and they seem to kind of like it, or at the very least, they respond well.”
Time for revenge?
Tennessee now awaits the loser of Thursday evening’s contest between 6-seed Florida and 10-seed Alabama. The Vols and either the Gators or Crimson Tide will square off at 3 p.m. central in another win or go home game.
It would probably be safe to say that the Vols wouldn’t mind seeing Alabama again after what took place in the bottom of the ninth on Wednesday.
“Tomorrow is another, call it do or die if you want, but it's just a baseball game,” Vitello said. “So we'll have those guys ready to rock and roll. You don't have to go crazy at the hotel preparing because we don't necessarily know who we play. Just kind of recalibrate everything and get off your feet and relax.
“We don't have any super strategy or anything like that. It will be wake up tomorrow and kind of have the same energy and approach we have today, and we'll see where it leaves us.”
