Vols Griffin Merritt Becoming “Mr Walk-Off” After Delivering Another Walk-Off Homer to Beat Miss State
(utsports.com) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For the second time in the span of six days, it was the bat of Griffin Merritt that gave Tennessee a dramatic walk-off win as the graduate transfer led of the bottom of the ninth with a no-doubt solo home run to straightaway center field, lifting the Volunteers to an 8-7 victory over Mississippi State on a damp Thursday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Merritt hammered a 1-0 pitch 411 feet over the batter’s eye for his 13th long ball of the year, giving the Big Orange their fourth straight SEC win and their fifth consecutive victory over the Bulldogs, extending the longest win streak over MSU in program history.
After going up 7-1 in the fifth inning, No. 8/24 Tennessee looked like it would cruise to a win on Thursday night, but the Bulldogs battled back with two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh to cut their deficit to one before tying the game with a leadoff homer by Hunter Hines in the top of the ninth.
Maui Ahuna, Jared Dickey and Zane Denton all had multi-hit games and drove in runs for the Vols while combining for seven of the team’s 11 hits on the night.
Chase Burns picked up the win after striking out four batters in 2.1 innings of relief, allowing a run on one hit. Andrew Lindsey provided UT with another solid start, tossing 5.2 innings in his third start of the year, and was in line for the win but received a no-decision after the Bulldogs tied the game in the ninth.
Lindsey struggled in the first inning, loading the bases with no outs and a single and two walks, but was able to limit the damage to just a single run before settling in.
Mississippi’s State lead was short-lived as Tennessee responded immediately with four runs in the bottom of the first as Dickey, Dylan Dreiling and Denton all drove in runs in the inning.
A two-run single by Christian Scott and an RBI double from Ahuna in the fifth extended the UT lead to six before MSU started to chip away at the lead.
Colton Ledbetter, Hines and Slate Alford all homered for the Bulldogs while Luke Hancock had a pair of hits and two RBIs. Starting pitcher Cade Smith gave up four runs on six hits and four walks in four innings pitched while reliever KC Hunt was the losing pitcher after giving up Merritt’s walk-off home run.
UP NEXT: Tennessee (28-14, 9-10 SEC) will look to win its second straight series when it takes on Mississippi State (24-18, 6-13 SEC) in game two on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Junior right hander Chase Dollander will get the start for the Vols.
