University of Tennessee Athletics
Wright delivers game-winning hit over EMU
March 09, 2008 | Baseball
Box Score
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.????? Alan Wright???s first career hit just happened to be Tennessee???s most memorable hit of this young season. In just his third career at-bat, the sophomore drilled a game-winning, RBI base hit in the bottom of the 10th inning Sunday to give the Volunteers baseball team a hard-earned 8-7 win over Eastern Michigan in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Robert M. Lindsay Field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Wright entered the game as a pinch runner in the bottom of the ninth inning, and he scored the tying run on an RBI basehit by senior Shawn Griffin to send the game into extra innings. Vols third baseman Cody Brown singled in the 10th inning and then took second base on a wild pitch before scoring on Wright???s hard-hit liner to left-center.
Vols starting pitcher Nick Hernandez recorded a career-high seven strikeouts through 4 1/3 innings in Game 1 but earned a no-decision. Junior Danny Wiltz was one of four UT relievers to see action out of the bullpen, and his perfect 10th-inning was enough to earn him his first win of the season. The Miami, Fla., native improved to 3-0 for his career with the victory.
UT took an early lead in Game 1 when cleanup hitter Brown drew an RBI walk in the bottom of the first inning after the Vols??? first three batters each reached on singles. Right fielder Josh Liles brought home another run with an RBI groundout later in the frame, and centerfielder Kentrail Davis scurried across the plate on a bases-loaded wild pitch by Eagles starting pitcher Sean Hoffman.
Easter Michigan (0-12) countered in the top of the second with a leadoff double by Jeff Davis followed by a two-run homer off the bat of Zack Leonard.
The Vols struck again with two outs in the bottom of the second to take a 5-2 lead. Brown laced an RBI single up the middle to score shortstop Cody Grisham. On that same play, Eagles first baseman Steve Bradshaw unleashed a wild throw home that eluded catcher Andrew Marshall and enabled Jeff Davis to score.
The two-out scoring continued into the top of the third, when EMU designated hitter Aaron Powell dropped a two-run double just inside fair territory in right field. Leonard followed with an RBI basehit that plated Powell. That hitthe Eagles??? eighth of the daytied the game at 5-5.
Kentrail Davis restored Tennessee???s lead in the bottom of the fourth with a towering solo home run that easily cleared the right-field wall. It was Davis??? first career longball and the fourth homer of the season by a Vol.
Hernandez was lifted after 4 1/3 innings in favor of junior right-hander Ty???Relle Harris, who took the mound for the first time as a Vol with one out and runners on first and second. The Fairfield, Calif., native quickly induced a double-play ball to end the threat.
Harris retired all seven batters he faced and also logged a pair of strikeouts through 2 2/3 innings before giving way to junior Aaron Everett, who faced the minimum in the top of the eighth. The Vols turned to Lockwood to pitch the ninth, and Eagles pinch-hitter Todd Graves led off the top of the frame with a double, putting the potential go-ahead run at the plate.
Outfielder Michael Boyd followed Graves??? two-bagger with a bunt single that put runners on the corners with no outs, and Lockwood then hit EMU leadoff man Kyle Rhoad with a pitch to load the bases.
Rhoad delivered an RBI fielder???s choice to tie the game at 6-6, and Bradshaw then sent an RBI basehit into shallow left field to score Boyd and put the Eagles on top, 7-6. Lockwood rebounded by getting Marshall to strike out looking. That brought Jeff Daviswho was 4-for-4 in the game at that pointto the plate with two men in scoring position and an opportunity to extend the Eastern Michigan lead. But Lockwood got the hot-hitting Davis to groundout and keep the Vols??? deficit at a manageable one run.
In the bottom of the ninth, Lockwood drew a one-out walk, and Wright came in to pinch run at first base. Wright stole second base during Liles??? at-bat, and Liles popped out on the next pitch. Junior Jarred Frazier then dug in as a pinch-hitter, and EMU called reliever Matt Shoemaker out of the bullpen to face the Shelbyville, Tenn., native. The Vols then decided to send the left-handed-hitting Shawn Griffin to the plate in Frazier???s stead for a crucial righty-lefty matchup.
With the count at 1-1, Griffin delivered a clutch, RBI double to the left-center gap, easily scoring Wright to tie the game at 7-7. Tennessee catcher Yan Gomes was the next Vol to dig in, and Shoemaker unleashed a wild pitch that allowed Griffin to take third base before Gomes walked to put runners on the corners for shortstop Danny Lima.
Shoemaker issued a walk to Lima, loading the bases with two outs for Simunic. But Shoemaker snuck out of the jam by getting Simunic to harmlessly fly out and force extra innings.
Wiltz entered the game to pitch in the top of the 10th, and Eastern Michigan put a runner on second base before the right-hander came through with impressive back-to-back strikeouts to squelch the threat and set the stage for Wright???s heroics.
Tennessee won Friday???s series-opener 6-2, but winter-weather conditions prevented the teams from taking the field Saturday. Game 1 Sunday was scheduled for nine innings, and Game 2 was slated to be a seven-inning affair (to begin approximately 30 minutes after Game 1???s conclusion).
