A lightning strike within two miles of Lindsey Nelson Stadium forced Game 1 of the Knoxville Super Regional to enter a weather delay just before the third inning was set to begin on Saturday evening.
The delay came an inning too late for Tennessee starter Chad Dallas. It became a downpour in the second inning and LSU's Cade Doughty took advantage, hitting an opposite field home run to give LSU an early 1-0 lead.
In the midst of what would be a 50-minute delay, Vols head coach Tony Vitello decided not to make a pitching change as we often see baseball coaches do when weather interrupts a game.
"We kind of had a decent idea of what was going to happen so there was never going to be a long enough delay where we consider switching," Vitello said following the game. "You kind of can see when a guy is locked in to the point where it's almost like he's not going to let anything happen other than what he wants to. Chad kind of had that look to him. Obviously, he's not invincible, and he's facing a really good team, but he just kind of had that look of determination."
"There was nothing that was going to take me out of that game, no matter how long it was," Dallas added. "As soon as I saw that it was a delay, I automatically went up to Coach (Frank) Anderson and asked him when can I go down to the cages and stay stretched out? It was the competitor inside me that didn't want to get taken out of the game.”
The decision to keep Dallas in the game despite the weather delay paid off in a huge way for the Vols. Dallas went on to strike out a career-high 12 hitters and not allow an earned run over his next four innings of work.
"I was just trying to keep my body ready to go at all times, stay stretched out, keep my arm ready to get back on the mound," Dallas said. "And the dugout vibe was—for me—it felt really good."
Dallas (W, 11-1) allowed two runs, one of which was earned, in 6.0 innings of work against the Tigers has he led the Vols (49-16) to a 4-2 win. He gave up five hits and didn't allow a walk on 99 pitches, 68 of which were strikes.
"I was impressed with the guy to the left to me (Chad Dallas) for a lot of different reasons tonight, but mainly he was out there and got an out in a torrential downpour and then looked like he was on his way to get another one," Vitello said. "He then waits out the rain delay, so that's the thing that that most sticks in my mind is how great the environment was and how gritty and gutty the guy to my left is."
"He’s a good guy to lead us into a weekend because that's the way he is and our guys seem to kind of follow his lead. They do it in the dugout too when he's horsing around, which can be aggravating sometimes. When it's on the field, there's a lot of passion. There’s a lot of grit, and if you're going to summarize our win, it's not like LSU didn't have the same thing, but it was kind of our brand of baseball and we were able to overcome a little bit of adversity and fortunately win the game tonight.”
A Big Sixth Inning
Tennessee needed a big sixth inning to pull out the win in the opener.
The Vols answered Doughty's early homer with a run of their own in the third on an RBI groundout from Connor Pavolony to tie the game at 1-1, but LSU would regain the lead, 2-1, in the fifth on a Pavolony throwing error.
Vitello's bunch wouldn't trail for too long, as in the bottom of the sixth, the Vols pushed three runs across to take a 4-2 lead that would prove to be the difference in the game. But it would not have taken place if Dallas hadn't gotten Tennessee out of a jam without a scratch in the top-half of the frame when LSU had runners on first and second with two outs.
“I honestly think it all started with Chad (Dallas)," Vitello said. "A lot of your great basketball coaches say your best offense is defense. And I think the fact that he was able to get out of that jam in a really tough spot when—if you're a fan or your media member—you're saying, ‘Man, we don't really have a lot of wiggle room for error here.’ And we come in with that momentum in the dugout. They were charged up."
Max Ferguson got the rally going with a one-out walk, and after Jake Rucker laced a double down the left field line, the Vols had runners on second and third. Drew Gilbert then stepped to the plate and hit a ground ball to third that allowed Ferguson to score and tie the game.
Gilbert reached safely on the fielder's choice as Doughty was indecisive of where to go with the baseball, setting up Evan Russell to walk and load the bases for Luc Lipcius. The senior first baseman gave Tennessee a 3-2 lead on an RBI groundout to second base.
Jordan Beck extended the lead to 4-2 on an RBI single to right field that scored Gilbert from third.
"You had guys with that good mix that we were fighting for all game long of… yeah, amped up, because it's a Super Regional all that good stuff, but also just kind of more relaxed and focused on being determined to win pitches," Vitello said. "It was a good vibe going on in that inning and, you know, sometimes karma is on your side when that's the case. You get kind of a funky bounce and you get a ball that goes over an infielders head, and guys hustle and make things happen."
Sean Hunley gonna Sean Hunley
Dallas handed the ball off to Sean Hunley to begin the seventh inning, who went on to earn his ninth save of the season in what was his 33rd appearance of the season, a new single-season program record.
The senior-right hander promptly shut the Tigers down 1-2-3 in back-to-back innings, in the seventh and the eighth. Hunley did run into a bit of trouble in the ninth, however, as he was looking to close things out.
LSU's Gavin Dugas led off the inning with a single up the middle, and after a fly ball to right field for the first out of the inning, Drew Bianco hit an infield single to put a runner on second, the tying-run on first and bring the go-ahead run to the plate.
After a mound visit from pitching coach Frank Anderson, Hunley got a ground ball and a strikeout to end the game and give the Vols a win.
Hunley didn't allow a run over three innings of work. He allowed just three hits, didn't allow a walk and struck out four on 38 pitches, 30 of which were strikes.
One Win Away From Omaha
Tennessee is now a win away from booking a trip to Omaha.
The Vols will look to clinch a trip to the College World Series when they square off against LSU in Game 2 of the Knoxville Super Regional at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2 Sunday afternoon.
Freshman right-hander Blade Tidwell (9-3, 3.25 ERA) will start for Tennessee on the bump.
“(Tidwell has) thrown on either game two or game three for us," Vitello said. "He's been able to watch the opponent and learn from his teammates. But really, it's kind of been about Blade’s, you know, his evolving as a pitcher and maturing as a college athlete. I think that's kind of more his deal he's got going on. He's just been getting a little better each week and it's been fun to watch.
"I think Chad's (Dallas) effort certainly helps that. I think Chad and Sean (Hunley) made sure we didn't really have to tax the bullpen like crazy."
LSU ace Landon Marceaux (7-6, 2.44 ERA) is expected to start for the Tigers.
Box Score:
Other Tidbits:
- Dallas' career-best 12 strikeouts were the most by a Tennessee pitcher this season.
- With Saturday's win, Tennessee is now 5-0 all-time in Super Regional games. UT has the most wins without a loss in Super Regional history.
Post Game Interviews:
