Vols Deliver Walk-Off Win Over Alabama in SEC Home Opener

Friday, March 23

Knoxville

6:30 P.M. ET

University of Tennessee

14-9, 2-2

Alabama

16-7, 1-3

Alabama

Tennessee

Photo by: Austin Perryman/Tennessee Athletics

Vols Deliver Walk-Off Win Over Alabama in SEC Home Opener

March 23, 2018 | Baseball

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Freshman Evan Russell drew a walk-off walk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to lift Tennessee to a thrilling 5-4 win over rival Alabama in Friday night's series opener at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Volunteers and Crimson Tide traded punches throughout before the Big Orange were able to deliver the final blow with a two-out rally in the ninth to earn their second conference win of the year.

The three through seven hitters in UT's order combined for 10 of the team's 12 hits on the night and drove in all five runs. Russell finished the game with a pair of hits and a game-high two RBI while Andre Lipcius, Benito Santiago, Brodie Leftridge and Pete Derkay all had two hits apiece as well.

Freshman lefty Garrett Crochet gave the Vols another quality start, tying a career high with eight strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work. Zach Linginfelter got the win to improve to 2-1 on the year after giving up just one hit and striking out three in 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.

UT didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard, plating a run in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. Back-to-back two-out singles by Lipcius and Santiago put runners on the corners for Leftridge, who delivered with an RBI single to center field to put the Vols ahead 1-0.

The Big Orange doubled their lead in the fourth on an RBI double by Russell to score Leftridge, who singled earlier in the inning.

Alabama took the lead with three runs in the top of the fifth. Consecutive RBI hits by Chandler Avant and Chandler Taylor tied the game at two before Taylor eventually scored on a wild pitch to give the Tide its first lead.

Tennessee battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth with a sacrifice fly by Santiago and regained the lead on an RBI single by Brandon Trammell in the sixth to go up 4-3.

Matt Malkin evened things up again with a two-out RBI single in the top of the eighth to make it 4-4 heading into the bottom of the inning.

After grounding into a double play with the bases loaded in the eighth, the Vols loaded them up again in the ninth on two walks and an error, setting the table for Russell. The freshman from Lexington, Tenn., fell behind 0-2 before working the count full and drawing the game-winning walk.

Notables
Clutch Hitting by Vols
Tennessee had a number of hits and walks in big time situations on Friday night. As a team, the Vols batted .333 with runners on base, had four base knocks with runners in scoring position and drew seven walks. The three through seven hitters in UT's order were especially effective, accounting for 10 of the team's hits and all five RBI.

Freshmen Getting it Done
The Vols got major contributions from their freshmen in Friday's victory. The duo of Evan Russell and Brandon Trammell combined for three hits and three RBI. Starting pitcher Garrett Crochet had another strong outing on the mound with eight strikeouts and just two earned runs allowed in 6.1 innings pitched.

Next Up
The Vols and Tide square off again in game two of the weekend series tomorrow at 6 p.m. The game will be aired live on the SEC Network and feature a radio broadcast on Sports Radio WNML (FM 99.1 / AM 990) as well as UTSports.com.