Tennessee’s offense out-muscled Gonzaga Sunday afternoon to defeat the Zags 17-9 and secure the series sweep.
Tennessee left much to be desired in the first two innings, leaving runners on first and second in the first inning and runners on the corners in the second inning.
Meanwhile Gonzaga took an early 2-0 lead in third inning on an RBI single and a sac fly. Tennessee avoided further damage as Christian Moore made a superb turnaround-throw to first to end the inning.
But the Zags’ lead didn’t last long. In the bottom of the third, Tennessee loaded the bases on three straight walks and Jared Dickey was up to the dish with no outs. Dickey made sure Tennessee capitalized on the situation, destroying a ball to right field for a grand slam.
Tennessee got two more runners on base and Maui Ahuna hit an RBI-double to right field to drive in a pair of runs. Christian Moore rounded out scoring with a two-run home over the batter’s eye.
The third inning also brought some drama as Gonzaga pitcher Ty Buckner got thrown out of the game for what looked like an intentional pitch thrown at Blake Burke’s leg.
In the fourth, Gonzaga added one run, but Tennessee responded with two runs of its own on a Griffin Merritt two-run homer to right field. Merritt also had a home run on Saturday against the Zags.
Gonzaga drove in two more runs in the fifth, but the Vols again responded with a run of their own on a sac fly from Zane Denton. The Vols added another in the sixth on a Maui Ahuna sac fly.
The Zags once again proved that their bats are worthy in the seventh as Brian Kalmer drilled a solo shot to right field. They added another pair of runs on a two-run homer in the eighth to make it a 12-8 game.
“We got a couple guys out of position and we could have helped our pitchers on a couple of occasions,” head coach Tony Vitello said. “Everybody that’s watching knows that’s our strength. It’s always going to be, but with this staff in particular. If our guys communicate and if they’re in the position they need to be on defense, and they know the wind, and they just play as well as they’re capable of defensively, not superman, then the pitching staff is even better.”
But Tennessee gave itself a nine-run lead in the eighth with a five-run effort to put things out of reach.
The win was the second time the Vols had to come from behind against Gonzaga. They also went down early on Saturday but managed to crawl back. The comebacks gave Tennessee some early adversity that could be beneficial down the road.
“We also mentioned the resiliency they had to come back in two of the three games, maybe even three,” Vitello said. “Friday felt like a comeback no matter who was hitting because those two guys were throwing so well. So the resiliency piece was really good.”
