University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols fall to Gamecocks behind walk-off HR
May 17, 2008 | Baseball
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COLUMBIA, S.C. ??? South Carolina shortstop Reese Havens hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday to power the 18th-ranked Gamecocks to a series-clinching 10-8 win over the Tennessee baseball team in front of 5,361 at Sarge Frye Field.
The contest marked the final baseball game at the historic facility, which has served as the Gamecocks??? home since 1958.
Trailing by two in the top of the ninth inning, the Vols (27-29, 12-18 SEC) put their first two batters on base as left fielder Shawn Griffin led off with a basehit before junior Cody Brown walked. Sophomore first baseman Jeff Lockwood then sent an offering from Carolina reliever Brandon Todd over the left-field wall just inside the foul pole. The Knoxville, Tenn., native???s ninth homer of the year tied the game at 8-8 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
But Gamecocks outfielder Harley Lail led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to set the stage for Haven???s one-out heroics. Todd earned the win despite giving up three runs in the final 2 2/3 innings.
Vols reliever Joey Rosas took the loss to fall to 4-3 on the year.
Griffin dealt the first blow early Saturday, smacking a solo homer over the left-field wall in the top of the first inning. It was the Hollywood, Fla., native???s 12th home run of the year and the 18th of his two-year UT career.
Back-to-back RBI doubles down the right-field line by South Carolina???s Justin Smoak and James Darnell enabled the Gamecocks (37-19, 15-15 SEC) to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first.
After drawing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third, Smoak was driven in on an RBI basehit by Harley Lail to put the Gamecocks up by a pair.
Brown tied things up with a two-run single up the middle in the top of the fifth. Kentrail Davis and Griffin each scored on the play after singling and reaching on an infield error, respectively. The game-tying basehit gave Brown???a Knoxville, Tenn., native and 2008 team co-captain 40 RBI on the year.
South Carolina reclaimed its lead with four runs on three hits in the bottom of the sixth. Darnell did the most damage with a three-run homer to left-center. The third baseman???s 40th career longball put the Gamecocks up 7-3.
Tennessee right fielder Josh Liles delivered an RBI single in seventh, and UT made it a 7-5 game when second baseman Danny Lima was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded later in the frame. The Vols also managed to get into the Gamecocks bullpen in the seventh, chasing starter Blake Cooper from the hill after six full innings of action.
South Carolina used three consecutive hits to build on its lead in the eighth, taking an 8-5 lead on Darnell???s fourth hit of the day. Darnell drove in five runs in the game.
Tennessee starting pitcher Ty???Relle Harris worked 5 2/3 innings while earning a no-decision. The junior was touched for seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits with five walks and five strikeouts.
Vols reliever Steve Crnkovich worked two innings in relief, allowing one run on three hits before handing the ball over to Rosas, who pitched the final 2/3 inning.
Tennessee finished the season with a total of 67 home runs in 56 games???just one shy of the 2005 College World Series team???s 67-game total. Entering this season, UT averaged 50.2 home runs per year over the previous nine seasons.
