Nichols: No. 16 Tennessee turns bats to brooms with bombs for first series sweep of 2021

The Vols baseball program made the game fun again this weekend, sweeping its season-opening series against Georgia State.

If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

That’s how the saying goes, right?

Evidently, that same phrasing could apply to Georgia Southern baseball.

After winning Friday night, No. 16 Tennessee powered past the Eagles on Saturday and Sunday. Jake Rucker, Drew Gilbert, Jordan Beck, Jackson Leath and Liam Spence provided the biggest plays of the final two games.

Saturday, Tennessee clinched the series with a 5-3 comeback. The Vols followed that with a dramatic 7-3 win in extra innings on Sunday, putting Tony Vitello’s club at 3-0 with its third season-opening sweep in as many seasons.

First up came Rucker and Gilbert, as they led UT from behind on Saturday.

With the Vols trailing 3-1, Rucker tied the score at 3-3 in the eighth inning.

One inning later, a two-run shot from Gilbert put the Vols at a 5-3 lead, one they wouldn’t relinquish in a comeback win that featured the same final score as Friday night.

“It’s always good win, regardless of how you do,” Vitello said of Saturday. “To add a comeback win to your résumé as soon as possible is a powerful thing, because then you start to believe you can do it. Our guys did whatever we needed to do to scratch and claw and get in the position we did.”

The winning homer was Gilbert’s second tying shot of the game, as he had knocked a solo bomb in the third frame to knot the score at 1.

Gilbert bared his teeth on Saturday, too, as he flipped his bat on the first shot and held his pose (with another bat flip) on the two-run bomb in the ninth inning.

As he rounded the bases in the final frame, cameras showed Gilbert speaking to several Southern infielders. The Minnesota native cleared both dugouts, too, extending his “advice” to the Eagles’ bench on his way from third to home plate.

As expected, the teams inched toward each other. But umpires stood in-between, and they mediated well to cool the situation quickly.

Georgia Southern’s Barstool account responded, but Tennessee clapped right back.

You guys actually have a Barstool account?

— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) February 20, 2021

You love to see it.@BarstoolBoro pic.twitter.com/lI3CaqMXTh

— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) February 20, 2021

Redmond Walsh closed Saturday’s game with the win after finishing strong with a save on Friday. Walsh got the W, but freshman Blade Tidwell still had a decent first four innings in a Tennessee uniform. He allowed just two runs with four hits, fanning two Eagle batters.

“Blade did what he needed to do as a starter, which, by definition for us, is give our team a chance to win,” Vitello said. “However, I think Blade would agree with the coaching staff he didn’t throw as well as he’s capable of or how he’s been throwing the ball in scrimmages.

“A lot of that is just getting your first career outing as a freshman out of the way, and I think he’s probably glad we won, but also glad to have that behind him. I expect him to only get better as he keeps getting repetitions.”

On Sunday, it was Leath who kept the Vols in contention late. The senior right-hander replaced starting sophomore Elijah Pleasants, who allowed three runs on five hits with two errors and a strikeout.

Leath held the Vols together for 5.2 innings, giving up zero runs with three hits, no errors, two walks and six strikeouts.

Still, the senior waited until the most dramatic moment in regulation to deliver the pitch that gave Tennessee its chance to win.

After a two-run shot from Jordan Beck tied Sunday’s matchup in the third inning, the score remained locked through the final pitch of what looked to be the final frame. 

With a Southern runner on third, one out and a 3-3 game in the bottom of the ninth, UT’s chances at an Opening Weekend sweep appeared bleak. But Leath was masterful, forcing a groundout that the Vols turned into a 6-4-3 double play.

For two more innings, the game stayed at a stalemate. Then, Tennessee’s bats came alive in the top of the 12th.

Jackson Greer singled for the Vols, and Jorel Ortega doubled before an Evan Russell walk loaded the bases.

With that, Spence took center stage. After a Georgia Southern mound visit, the Australia native cranked a grand slam over the centerfield fence, putting Tennessee ahead 7-3.

The slam was obviously a big moment for Spence, who used the hit to notch a jaw-dropping first home run of the season. But Tennessee’s dugout also went bonkers as the Vols welcomed the senior across the plate. Vitello even said he and some players felt faint after such a jolt.

“It took my breath away, and a few other guys mentioned they almost passed out in the dugout, they got so excited,” Vitello said. “The guy’s a winner. You could see the focus there in that situation just to execute, and he benefitted a little more than just executing.”

Spence will certainly benefit from the social media reaction, as he can watch his slam just by scrolling through Twitter:

Even seen an Australian hit a game-winning grand slam?

Yeah, us neither...#GBO #OTH pic.twitter.com/KPJvdaWoRo

— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) February 21, 2021

Sean Hunley closed, hitting one batter and allowing a single before mowing down three straight to clinch the win.

“Our guys were up to the challenge,” Vitello said. “Jackson Leath had an unbelievable performance out of relief throwing that many pitches, but we felt confident handing the ball off to Hunley. He’s composed in any situation.”

Going forward, UT will look to maintain such composure when it opens Lindsey Nelson Stadium with a two-game tilt against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

But, after almost a full year without baseball, Tennessee could certainly be excused for showing some fire next week. The Vols certainly did against Southern, a team that Vitello praised heartily on Sunday.

“That’s a regional team we just played, I feel 100% confident in saying that,” Vitello said. “To me, they appear to be an SEC-type club. With the talent they have, we were just fortunate today to be a couple more things than they did.”

Vitello’s analysis is telling for Tennessee, especially considering that the fourth-year Vols coach helped Arkansas to the 2015 College World Series before coming to Rocky Top in 2017.

Now, Vitello and the Vols will look ahead to the Golden Lions before hosting Indiana State next weekend.

Against Pine Bluff, Tennessee’s coach said he wants to use “plenty of guys that need to see their first Tennessee action.”

That early experience should bode well. After Tuesday and Wednesday, the Vols welcome the Sycamores next weekend before hosting Dayton and Georgia State the following week. UT will have to wait until March 12th to start SEC play. That Friday, one could paraphrase Charlie Daniels in saying Tennessee will go down to Georgia looking for a couple games to steal.

First, though, the Vols will likely diversify to prepare for a tough conference slate. So, with this weekend’s strong pitching, hot bats and Gilbert’s swagger, out-of-conference teams visiting Rocky Top would be wise to heed more of Daniels’s words:

“‘Fire on the mountain,’ run boys, run.’”

If they don’t, Tennessee’s heat could welcome each program with a frying pan to the face.