The final mid-week game of the season did not go according to plan for the Tennessee baseball team, as Morehead State came to town and defeated the Vols 4-2 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Tuesday’s game culminated with a controversial call in the bottom of the ninth inning that led to both teams spilling out of the dugout and onto the field.
“I’m not necessarily in this for what people think about me, but I want Tennessee to be represented the right way and have the right reputation,” head coach Tony Vitello said. “But if we are not spilling our heart and guts out there on the field, then hand the baton off to somebody that will.”
Morehead State jumped out to an early lead on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly in the top of the first to make it 2-0. The Eagles then added runs in the third and the fifth innings to go up 4-0.
Tennessee got into the scoring column itself in the seventh inning. Evan Russell led off with a triple and senior catcher Benito Santiago drove him in to make the score 4-1.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Santiago came to the plate with the bases loaded. He hit a ground ball to the Morehead State second baseman who tossed the ball to the shortstop at second base to begin a double play.
The plays at second base and first base were both close calls, but the umpires called Tennessee out at both bags. Vitello ran out of the dugout, seeming to yell at every umpire on the diamond.
As Vitello began to walk toward the dugout, the Eagles second baseman appeared to yell at Vitello, leading to both dugouts pouring onto the field.
“(The umpire) said he held the bag twice,” Vitello said. “I didn’t see that to be the case either time. I don’t know if that’s true … kind of a blackout moment for me, by the time I made it to the first base umpire, I don’t know what his explanation was for calling out Benito, but we had him safe.”
Brandon Chinea struck out to end the frame. Despite the sour conclusion, Russell said he was glad to see his team get behind its coach.
“I was glad to see a little fight,” Russell said. “That just goes to show you that we have a couple guys that are ready to go to war behind Vitello, including myself. We’ll fight to the death for that man and he’ll do the same, it’s pretty awesome.”
Freshman pitcher Sean Hunley started on the mound for Tennessee, giving up two runs on three hits in the one inning he pitched.
“The goal was to get a zero in the first … who we saw as the best guy to get you a zero was a guy who has started a whole bunch on Tuesday’s,” Vitello said. “He looked really, really sharp for about two pitches and then it blew up in our face.”
Will Heflin threw a scoreless second inning, allowing just one base runner. Fellow sophomore Connor Darling gave up one run on two hits in the third inning.
Redmond Walsh pitched a scoreless fourth inning before handing the ball to Zach Linginfelter, who pitched 2.0 innings. Linginfelter gave up one run on two hits while striking out three.
Donovan Benoit, Andrew Schultz and Chase Wallace combined to throw the final three innings of the game.
“There was a plan in place with the pitching to essentially plan for the weekend,” Vitello said. “In my opinion, the umpires or the pitching plan didn’t decide the game.”
Tennessee will be back in action with a three-game series against No. 13 Kentucky this weekend at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch of Friday’s game is set for 6:30 p.m. and the contest can be seen on the SEC Network +.
