Blake Grimmer got the last laugh.
The Tennessee baseball leadoff man didn’t flinch, sending the first pitch of his fifth at-bat soaring towards the right-center field wall. As he stood and admired the walk-off blast, his teammates flowed from the dugout to celebrate with the game’s hero. On this Tuesday night, though, their jubilation didn’t come without a sizable exhale.
USC Upstate held the Vols scoreless through six innings in this midweek outing before a two-run seventh proved good enough to give Tennessee a short-lived lead. The Spartans would rally to knot things up again in the ninth, bringing about a foreign big-time feeling to a non-conference matchup at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in late March.
“Never take for granted a chance to win a ball game on your home field,” head coach Josh Elander said. “We feel if we get to hit last in our home park, we feel good about it. Good to see Grimmer get that swing, but there’s some things we’ll adjust. Anytime you win a ball game is a good day.”
Even though the bats stayed quiet for the majority of the evening, the Vols’ struggles began on the mound.
Taylor Tracey found his fourth midweek start the most difficult. The two-way freshman walked more men than he recorded outs, lasting only five batters into the ballgame before embarking on an early walk to the dugout with a run already tabbed to his name. Luckily for his stat line, fireman Brady Frederick proved able to douse any USC Upstate hopes of a big inning.
“It wasn’t crisp for whatever reason,” Elander said. “I thought even just the body language and how he was moving around on the mound, he didn’t seem comfortable for whatever the reason was today. We’ll meet with him tomorrow, got a ton of confidence in him.”
As the campaign shifts towards the gauntlet of SEC play, Tennessee views the leverage reps it got against the Spartans through a silver lining. After Tracey’s shaky opening, the rest of the Vols’ pitching staff turned in quality work while managing runners on in nearly every inning.
Frederick, Nic Abraham and Brayden Krenzel combined for 6.1 innings of scoreless baseball. Krenzel wiggled out of a two-out jam in the top of the ninth, inheriting the go-ahead run on third with one out before retiring the final two batters of the frame in order.
The sophomore never takes the big spot for granted.
“I think it’s awesome,” Krenzel said. “Every experience I try to cherish a little bit differently. Everything’s something to learn from, and today was one of those as well.”
The strength of his bullpen set the table for Grimmer to deliver in the clutch. The Spring Lake, Michigan, product entered his final plate appearance of the contest hitless. His team had yet to record anything better than a single. A pitch later, Grimmer’s third long ball of the season changed both scripts.
“Every game is mutually exclusive,” Grimmer said. “We’re trying to grow and become the team we want to be at the end of the season, no matter who we’re playing. It’s beneficial when you win a game like this, so you know you’re able to come back.”
