He certainly wasn’t the first selection.
He wasn’t even option number two.
But after sophomore outfielder Vincent Jackson’s late game heroics helped cap off a tough weekend series, it hardly seemed to matter that the McDonough, Ga., native spent nearly eight innings roaming the Volunteer dugout after being passed over twice to play right field.
“He was the third choice,” head coach Dave Serrano said. “First (Pierce) Bily starts out there — he struggled out there a little bit defensively. We make a change, go to Derek Lance, and they go to a right-handed pitcher. And we go to Vincent.”
The last of those transactions proved to be the most crucial as Jackson solidified a furious late-game rally with a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Volunteers a 10-9 victory over Alabama Sunday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Jackson, who started the first 24 of the year but had been absent from the lineup lately thanks in large part to offensive struggles, entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and produced a base hit in each of his two at-bats.
“People are doing good right now, so when your time comes you have to take advantage of it,” Jackson said, whose multi-hit performance was his first since March 15. “I was staying the warm the whole game, watching pitchers, just kind of visualizing at-bats the whole time so I could get extra at-bats in my head.
“And it all came together in the end.”
The base knock gave the Vols (25-13, 7-11 SEC) their fifth walk-off victory of the season and allowed UT to salvage the series finale — momentarily erasing the utter disappointment generated by dropping both Game One and Game Two to the Crimson Tide (28-12, 12-6).
But after 7 1/2 innings, it appeared Sunday’s finale was more the weekend rule rather than the exception as UT trailed 8-2 entering the bottom of the eighth.
The Vols had put just a single runner past second since the opening frame, but in the eighth, the first six hitters reached safely and four runs scored before Alabama could even record an out.
Then, with the Crimson Tide lead trimmed to 8-7 following a Johnny Youngblood RBI groundout, second baseman Will Maddox roped a game-tying single to center that plated Parker Wormsley from third.
“We kind of took the scoreboard out of it,” said Jackson, who also delivered an RBI single in the six-run eighth. “It’s hard to do when you’re down 8-2, but just have a quality at-bat and don’t be the first out, don’t be the last out.”
However, the Vols would require a second rally as Alabama junior Ben Moore took UT reliever Andrew Lee (4-1, 4.83 ERA) deep off the right field scoreboard, giving the Tide a 9-8, ninth-inning advantage.
But in the bottom half, UT again wasted little time in mounting yet another comeback. Christin Stewart led off with a walk, and Nick Senzel followed with an RBI double, teeing off on the first pitch he saw from Crimson Tide reliever Kyle Overstreet (0-1, 13.50).
After a groundout by Taylor Smart, Jackson roped a first-pitch fastball down the right field line, welcoming a monumental dog pile just as a chugging Senzel crossed home for the game-winner.
“We’ve walked off a few times this year, and every time it feels better than the last,” Jackson said. “And this one is a big win for us in the SEC especially.”
That’s because on Friday the Vols fell behind early and couldn’t rally quickly enough, ultimately falling 8-5 to the Crimson Tide in the series opener.
Trailing 8-1 heading into the seventh, the Vols pushed across three runs, receiving an RBI double from Jackson and run-scoring singles from sophomores A.J. Simcox and Stewart.
One inning later, Scott Price led off with a double down the right field line, raced to third on a fielder’s choice and later scored on Lance’s pinch hit sacrifice fly, trimming the Tide advantage to 8-5.
With two walks sandwiched in between, UT had the potential tying run at bat in both Lance and then Maddox, but the Vols’ second baseman struck out to end the eighth.
“We didn’t come out ready to play I felt like,” Maddox said on Friday. “But we got down, and we continued to battle.”
However, the minor comeback forced Crimson Tide manager Mitch Gaspard to go to his closer Thomas Burrows in a three-run game — a situation that would later benefit the Vols in the series finale.
“I was hoping that (the comeback) would help us win the series, but what it did is it allowed them not to be able to go their closer,” Serrano said on Sunday. “He had to pitch Friday night in that comeback. He had to pitch last night, and now he wasn’t available today. And that was a big thing for us tonight to come out on top.”
The Game One rally had to wait an extra day to become relevant as the Vols blew a late five-run lead and eventually dropped Game Two to the Crimson Tide 7-6.
With the game tied 6-6 in the ninth and the bags chocked full of Crimson Tide runners, the Vols still appeared to be close to wiggling out of the ugly bases-loaded jam with no damage inflicted.
Instead, reliever Josh Peterson plunked Alabama third baseman Chance Vincent with an up-an-in changeup, plating the eventual winning run.
“He said it got the bat, but he also said it hit his hand,” Serrano said on Saturday. “And that’s what I was confused by. It is what it is. I’m not going to get into that with his judgment call.”
