It was the shot that Tennessee fans were waiting on. After a long day of back and forth baseball, with Arkansas taking advantage of a few mistakes from the Vols, it was the 9th inning that finally set it off.
Arkansas took a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the 9th inning, looking to close it out and win the series. But for the Vols, they weren’t done. Connor Pavolony singled to center field to give the Vols their first base runner of the inning, then Liam Spence was walked, giving the Vols two men on base.
Enter Max Ferguson, who already had two hits on the day, including a homer, looking for a base hit to tie things up. Ferguson would end up taking it one step further, as he hit a rocket to right field that cleared the outfield wall without trouble and Tennessee took game 2 of the series. The electricity in the stadium was incredible, as Ferguson rounded third and headed home to finish off the comeback.
Will Heflin battled through six innings of work, being relieved by Connell and Sewell, before Redmond Walsh came in to get the win. There were so many times during this game that Tennessee could’ve folded, especially after giving up another early lead and the Razorbacks putting up runs in key spots.
Tennessee with the walk-off win, as Max Ferguson hits a 3-run 💣. @Vol_Baseball wins 8-7.
WOW pic.twitter.com/0yusCtwOB7
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) May 15, 2021
This was a win that will be remembered for a very long time in Knoxville, especially coming off the tough loss on Friday night. The fans, players and coaches all soaked it in, as they celebrated around home-plate, sending this series into a wild final game on Sunday.
Tony Vitello was asked about the homer, “With that one, I just thought it had a chance to get out”, He added, “I think everyone reacted like they were six years old”.
So now the Vols have a chance to win the series on Sunday, giving them an opportunity to make another huge statement around the college baseball world.
“It is freaking awesome to come to this field and play baseball everyday”, Will Heflin added postgame.
Just another day for the surging Tennessee Baseball team.
