By Ashley Stadnicki
It has not been easy for Tennessee lately. Back-to-back SEC series losses, dropping out of the top-25, and not even in conversations for potential NCAA Regional Tournament hosting.
Tennessee came into Dudy Noble Field, answered when it mattered, and held on just enough to escape with a 6–5 win over No. 9 Mississippi State on Friday night.
The Vols struck first in the third when Reese Chapman brought home a run on a groundout, and Henry Ford followed it up with a solo homer to give Tennessee an early 2-0 lead.
Mississippi State responded in the fourth with a sac fly to cut it to 2-1, but Tennessee answered right back in the fifth with a Levi Clark home run to push it to 3-1.
That’s when things flipped.
The Bulldogs hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 3-3, completely erasing Tennessee’s early control and turning it into a back-and-forth battle the rest of the way.
From there, both teams traded punches until the eighth inning, when Tennessee finally broke through. Back-to-back RBI singles from Wright and Eisfelder pushed the Vols ahead 6-3, giving them what looked like control heading into the final frame.
But Mississippi State wasn’t done.
“It’s amazing how this type of environment didn’t make them flinch,” said Tennessee Head Coach Josh Elander.
In the bottom of the ninth, Stallman launched a home run down the right-field line to bring the Bulldogs back within one and suddenly put real pressure on Tennessee’s final outs. The Vols were able to hang on from there, but not without a final scare that made the finish anything but comfortable.
“I mean it’s big,” said Cam Appenzeller when asked about the series opening win. “It kind of puts their backs against a wall and gives us confidence going into the rest of the weekend.”
It wasn’t clean, and it definitely wasn’t stress-free, but Tennessee did just enough to avoid another late collapse and walk out of Starkville with a much-needed SEC win.
The Vols are back in action Saturday night at 7:00 PM on SECN+.