In the Tennessee-Ball State slugfest on Wednesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, both teams combined for 25 hits, but, ironically, pitching and defense were what secured the Vols’ 9-7 win.
UT closer Nick Williams entered the ninth inning with a comfortable 9-6 lead, but the game quickly turned into a nail-biter. Ball State (2-7) began the inning with four straight hits, cutting the lead to 9-7 and leaving the bases loaded with still no one out.
More so than his performance, UT head coach Dave Serrano saw something that led him to visit Williams on the mound.
“I went out to the mound because his body language when he gave up a couple of hits bothered me a little bit,” Serrano said. “I don’t want our guys to want to give up hits, but in Nick’s role, that’s what his job is — to come in with a three-run lead and pound the strike zone.”
Williams settled down, getting a called strikeout from a 3-2 pitch, followed by a three-pitch strikeout, to earn the first two outs of the inning.
Ball State left fielder Kirby Campbell was finally able to put the ball into play, with a ground ball toward the right side of the infield, but UT second baseman Will Maddox made a diving stop and zipped the ball to first base for the deciding out.
Serrano called the play “unbelievable.”
“Maddox saved our life with that play at the end of the game,” Serrano said. “And to me, in this kind of game, a mid-week game where you gave up 13 hits, we didn’t have a hiccup defensively. (If) we had a hiccup — give up 90 feet somewhere along the line — and this score is probably different.”
Both Serrano and Williams emphasized the contribution of catcher Ethan Bennett in the pivotal ninth inning, always keeping the balls in the dirt from Williams in front of him, allowing Williams to stretch the strike zone.
“It allowed Nick to throw some really nasty pitches,” Serrano said. “And Ethan putting his body in front of the ball, to keep the ball in front, allowed us to win that game.”
Until a flyout to the catcher in the bottom of the eighth, Drew Steckenrider was having a perfect game for the Vols, both offensively and defensively.
As designated hitter, Steckenrider went 2-for-3 with a walk from the plate, highlighted by a sixth-inning, two-run home run to left-center field. That gave the Vols (9-3) two insurance runs, stretching their lead to 9-6.
He followed up on that performance in the very next frame, producing a flawless two-inning relief effort in the seventh and eighth innings. He gave up no hits, struck out five of the six batters he faced and threw 20 of his 25 pitches for strikes.
“That was pretty special,” Serrano said. “I don’t know what the readings were — doesn’t matter what the readings were — he was coming in and throwing a fastball by a lot of guys.”
Encouragement from a teammate helped Steckenrider.
“In the bullpen, (catcher) Andy Yates was warming me up, and he said that my stuff looked as good as it has all season, even in the fall, tonight,” Steckenrider said. “So I felt pretty confident, just him saying something like that, just a little bit of confidence, going out.”
