Tennessee baseball came back to defeat Vanderbilt, 4-3, in 12 innings on Friday night.
The Vols trailed 3-1 entering the ninth inning and had only two hits throughout the entirety of the game. However, redshirt-freshman slugger Kavares Tears knocked a solo home run off the batter’s eye to begin the ninth inning before freshman Dylan Dreiling smacked a 1-2 pitch to right center to tie the game.
Tennessee took the game to extra innings, where relief pitcher Chase Burns would continue to shove and allow Tennessee’s offense to struggle for a couple of innings.
As the game entered the bottom of the 12th, Griffin Merritt led off with a home run off the scoreboard to walk it off.
Merritt celebrated rounding the bases as Lindsey Nelson Stadium erupted. As Merritt rounded third, he threw his helmet in the air before greeting his teammates in a big huddle at home plate.
Watch Merritt’s home run below and the scene that ensued inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
“It felt great first of all,” Merritt said regarding his home run. “[Nick] Maldonado… he showed the fastball up and I knew he was probably going to come back with the cutter. I stayed on it and stayed behind it instead of spinning off. Off the bat, I thought it was out.”
Tennessee broke a four-game losing streak on Friday night and picked up their most significant win of the season.
“A bunch,” Merritt said on what a win like that does for the team. “We needed something like this. I am happy I could play a role in it. In any shape or form, this team needed a comeback win against a good team — a kickstart, really.”
The Vols will look to win the series when they face off against their in-state rival on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET for game two of the three-game series.
