Tennessee shows ‘one inning away’ resolve in walk off victory
OMAHA, Neb. —Tennessee has won 56 games this season, but not one has come via the walk off hit – until Friday. There’s no time like the present and with the ninth inning heroics, highlighted by Dylan Dreiling’s walk off single, the Vols secured the biggest win of the season on the biggest stage in the spot.
Tony Vitello’s club once trailed 9-4 and the Seminoles held a three-run lead entering the ninth inning at 11-8.
“I assure you that I was confident,” the skipper said after the ballgame. “We just talked about getting on base.”
Kavares Tears did just that, but he didn’t stop at first base. The leadoff triple soared to the wall in centerfield and the Vols had a man 90 feet away from scoring, right from the get-go.
“I honestly knew something special was going to happen when we got down. Coach V talks all the time about the game isn’t over until the umpires blow the whistle, and there’s no whistles in baseball. So, the game is never over,” the right fielder said of the comeback. “That’s what we were thinking the whole time in the dugout and kept telling each other to keep going, keep going, keep going and we knew that we were going to get them at one point.”
True freshman Dean Curley, who was 1-for-3 on the night, drove in Tears with a sacrifice fly to right field. One run was in and the deficit was 11-9 with one away.
Pinch hitter Cannon Peebles worked a full-count walk down to first base and but Cal Stark fouled out behind him for the second out. Florida State was close, but Tennessee’s lineup had turned over and Christian Moore – who had four hits already in the contest and locked up the cycle in the sixth inning– was on his way to the plate.
“It’s nice to turn over the lineup. And Christian Moore was a man on a mission tonight. So, you would like to see him get up to the plate,” Vitello said. “Honestly in that situation, what the conversation is, let’s just make sure we get one baserunner. And then I feel like our lineup is capable.”
Moore doubled to the wall in left field. Third base coach Josh Elander threw the stop sign up to hold the runners at second and third. The tying run was at second base and the winning run was stepping to the plate in Blake Burke.
“We talk about it all the time in the locker room, in the dugout. We believe in each other day in, day out,” the second abseman said in the postgame press conference. “We know that all we have to do is pass the torch to the next person.
“The group out there, we’ve played a lot of games together. So, there’s that certain comfort between us and knowing my brother has my back at all costs. So, when you go out there and have that, good things can happen, like tonight.”
It was a 2-2 and everyone in the stadium held their breath as an appeal down to third base umpire Shawn Rakos said the first baseman held is swing back enough on what would have been a check-swing strike three.
“It was a check swing, and I didn’t go,” Burke said, standing his ground. “I kept battling after that. I just kept battling, kept battling and that was the result.”
The result was a two-run single up the middle that tied the ballgame at 11-11. It was the third hit of the ballgame for Tennessee’s first baseman and the winning run was the base paths.
“We’re a very gritty team. And when we go out there, we always think that we can put up whatever number on the scoreboard,” Burke said after the win. “And we aren’t trying to put a six spot; we’re just trying to win every pitch. We threw a bunch of jabs all game, and then threw that big punch in the ninth inning.”
Billy Amick singled to left and Burke moved to second base. The table was set for Dylan Dreiling, who followed with the hit of the night. The gapper to the wall in left-centerfield was plenty deep enough to plate Burke from second. The Tennessee Vols began the celebration as the ballgame was over.
“With this offense we’re always one inning away. That’s kind of our motto this year,” Dreiling explained. “And we just had a belief that a big inning was coming and just trusting each other.”
Tennessee hadn’t won its first game in the College World Series since 1995. The Vols had lost their previous four and were looking to surely fall in line with history down early in the game. But the No. 1 overall seed just kept chipping away.
On a night where Tennessee’s pitching was pretty horrible, the Vols found a way to beat one of the undisputed best teams in the country. Tennessee is on the winner’s bracket side and won’t face elimination on Sunday. Heck of a night. Heck of a resolve. Heck of a win on the biggest stage.
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