Griffin Merritt Belts Walk Off Homer in 12th to Lift Vols Over Vandy 4-3
(utsports.com) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Four solo home runs, including a walk-off blast by Griffin Merritt in the bottom of the 12th inning, lifted No. 19 Tennessee to a thrilling come-from-behind 4-3 victory over No. 2 Vanderbilt in Friday night’s series opener in front of a raucous sold-out crowd at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Despite some fantastic pitching from the likes of Andrew Lindsey and Camden Sewell, the Volunteers entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 3-1 and had mustered just two hits to that point.
Kavares Tears sparked the comeback with a solo bomb off the batter’s eye to lead off the inning and cut the deficit to one. Following back-to-back strikeouts and down to the final strike, freshman pinch hitter Dylan Dreiling took a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right center to tie the game at three.
UT was unable to take advantage of a Jared Dickey leadoff double in the 10th but was able to keep the game tied thanks to the dominant pitching of sophomore Chase Burns, who entered the game with a runner on first and no outs in the top of the 10th inning. The hard-throwing right hander proceeded to strike out the next three batters and allowed just one hit with seven strikeouts over three innings of relief, facing the minimum during that stretch to earn the win.
After a 1-2-3 inning from Burns in the top of the 12th, Tennessee didn’t waste any time ending things in the home half of the inning, as Merritt led off the frame with an opposite field home run off the videoboard to send the dugout and Volunteer faithful into a frenzy. The homer was Merritt’s 11th of the season and fourth in conference play.
While Burns stole the show, the pitching duo of Lindsey and Sewell was just as effective. Making his second consecutive Friday night start, Lindsey was lights out at times throughout his outing, setting a new career high with 10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work, allowing three runs on six hits and a pair of walks. Sewell followed that up with 2.1 innings of one-hit ball to keep the Vols within striking distance.
In all, Tennessee pitchers finished with 19 strikeouts on the night, the most in an SEC game this year and just two away from tying the single-game program record of 21.
Zane Denton got the scoring started in the contest with a solo homer in the bottom of the second, his ninth of the year and team-leading seventh in conference play.
RJ Schreck led the Commodores (29-9, 13-3 SEC) offensively, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs and three walks. Matthew Polk and Jonathan Vastine combined for six of Vanderbilt’s eight hits from the eight and nine spots in the order, as both finished with three hits on the night.
Carter Holton gave Vandy six strong innings, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out six. Ace reliever Nick Maldonado suffered his first loss of the season after giving up three runs on four hits in four innings of work.
The win was UT’s fifth straight over the Commodores, marking the longest win streak against its in-state and division rival since also winning five in a row during a stretch from 1995-97.
UP NEXT: Tennessee (24-14, 6-10 SEC) will look to secure a series win on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is slated for noon ET and the game will be televised live on ESPN2.
