KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee battled back from an early 3-0 deficit to earn a hard-fought victory over in-state foe Middle Tennessee on Tuesday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, defeating the Blue Raiders 5-4 in a game that lasted nearly four hours.
The two teams combined to walk 21 batters but both were able to escape a number of jams to keep the game close. The one-two punch of Jay Charleston and Justin Ammons drove in all five of Tennessee’s runs as the Volunteers improved to 5-3 on the season.
Sophomore relief pitcher Will Heflin gave the Vols a huge boost out of the bullpen, tossing four innings while recording a career-high six strikeouts. Heflin surrendered just one run on three hits to improve his record to 2-0 on the year.
A long solo home run to left-center field by Middle Tennessee’s Blake Benefield in the top of the second inning opened the scoring. The Blue Raiders (4-4) added two more runs in the third to increase their lead to three. Aaron Aucker doubled down the left-field line to score LA Woodard before Drew Huff singled to drive in Aucker one batter later.
After leaving six runners on base through the first three innings, the Vols finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth to cut into the Blue Raiders lead. Wyatt Stapp and Brodie Leftridge led off the inning with back-to-back walks and both scored on a single up the middle by Charleston to make it 3-2. UT had a chance to do some more damage but left the bases loaded to end the inning.
Charleston came through again with a big two-out hit in the fifth, legging out an infield single to drive in pinch runner Alex Sosnowski to tie the game at three. Ammons kept the momentum rolling with a triple off the top of the wall in right center to clear the bases and give the Orange and White its first lead at 5-3.
The Blue Raiders drew within one run after an RBI single from Aucker in the top of the seventh made it 5-4.
Tennessee got out of some major trouble in the eighth after loading the bases with no outs. However, freshman closer Chase Wallace struck out Aaron Antonini and then got Woodard to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to escape the jam unscathed.
Wallace worked out of some more trouble in the ninth after walking the leadoff batter. With a runner on third and only one out, the Sevierville, Tenn., native was able to strike out Aucker and force Huff to ground out to preserve the win and earn his second save of the season.
Grant Williams was stuck with the loss for the Blue Raiders after giving up two runs and issuing three of Middle Tennessee’s 14 walks in just one inning on the mound. Aucker led the offense for the Blue Raiders, finishing the game 3-of-4 with a run and two RBI.
Notables
Jay Comes Through in Crunch Time
With the Vols struggling to get a big hit, Jay Charleston was finally able to deliver with a two run-single in the bottom of the fourth to get UT on the board. Charleston came through with another clutch hit in the fifth, legging out an RBI infield single to tie the game and extend the inning. Justin Ammons followed with a two-run triple to give the Vols their first lead of the game.
Heflin Dealing Out of the Pen
Sophomore lefty Will Heflin pitched very well in relief for the Vols on Tuesday, giving up just one run on three hits in four innings of work while setting career highs in strikeouts (six) and innings pitched en route to earning his second win of the season. Heflin’s previous career high in strikeouts was two, set twice last year, and his previous career high in innings pitched was three, which he set last Friday in a 3-2 win over UNC Greensboro.
Ice in the Veins
Freshman close Chase Wallace recorded the final six outs of the game to earn his second save of the season. After hitting a batter and walking another to load the bases with no outs in the eighth, Wallace got a big strikeout and then forced Blue Raiders’ leadoff man LA Woodard to ground into a double play to end the threat.
The Sevierville, Tenn., native worked out of some more trouble in the ninth after Middle Tennessee had a runner on third with just one out. Wallace struck out Aucker and then got Dennis to ground out to secure the victory.
Next Up
Tennessee welcomes Arkansas Pine Bluff for another midweek contest tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. The game will be streamed line on SEC Network + (WatchESPN).
Quotables
Head Coach Tony Vitello
On what he said during the post-game speech:
“Well we are kind of just getting ready for the whole week. Again, our first five-game week challenge, and to be honest with you, they were not ready to play today, which yesterday I was stewing all day. Probably sounded a little bitter on the radio when I was doing an interview, because I really do not like .500. I do not care what team we have. We do not want to be anywhere near .500 and I want to get away from that. That is why I kind of had my hair on fire today, but I think they were a little more relax and giddy, probably has to do with the sun being out, and maybe being a little bit anxious to get back after it, but I do not think we were ready to go and I think there were signs of that before the game. That is probably why they dug themselves a hole and had to dig out of it, and at least they did that. I think because of the things we talked about over here. They are resilient. They got a little resiliency, but they got a lot of learning to do and how to prepare. I mean Chase Wallace is a good example. He is in that position because he can do what you saw, but he also made it a lot harder on himself.”
On how big the innings were from Heflin in the middle frames:
“Huge. Huge. Maybe he is that guy that the more he is out there, the more he can settle in and kind of be who he truly is. It has been frustrating to this point because there are so many flashes of a Will Heflin that we do not know. Fortunately, now the Will Heflin we do know, the flashes we have seen from that have outnumbered the bad ones. For him to carry the load in the middle of the game and shrink it for us was huge. They went to a position player – now he has a pretty good arm – but know they are just like us, little bit of the bottom of the barrel in the depth chart, and for Will to log that many innings was huge.”
Sophomore INF Jay Charleston
On what he had going for himself:
“I saw runners on in scoring position and less than two outs, and I just wanted to put a ball in play and get the RBI for the team.”
On wanting to be in clutch situations to help the team:
“For sure, with a runner on third base, our coach always said that those are easy RBIs and to put the ball in play. It helped me tonight to get on first base and get an RBI for the team.”
Freshman RHP Chase Wallace
On feeling nervous in the last couple of innings:
“There is a little nerves there, but you have to go out there and just compete and throw strikes. Coach calls you and says you’re in the game, like he says he teaches how to compete. That is just what I did.”
On his mindset in the top of the eighth with the bases loaded and nobody out:
“Benito [Santiago] came up to me and said that they had been talking a lot this game and I really need you to have my back right here. I had a couple of talks with the infielders and they said ‘We need you right here,’ and I just tried to do everything I can for the team and we got the win.”